There have been many different weather inputs over the past few days, and it will take a bit of time for things to settle down. The Mt. Stephen and Mt. Dennis avalanche closure areas will be CLOSED on Friday.
Wind slabs are prevalent in the alpine and some treeline terrain. Some of these may be sitting over facets and easier to trigger. In thinner snowpack areas, these may initiate deeper layers which can run far.
The midpack Dec. 2 crust and facets are likely only a problem in thinner areas such as Mt. Stephen and Mt. Dennis where the snowpack resembles ones further East. Thicker areas in the region have not seen any activity on this layer yet.
A bit of an inversion is setting up for Friday. Temperatures will stay below freezing (-5C to -2C) in the alpine with a mix of sun and cloud, and light to moderate NW winds. Friday night winds will turn west and blow over 100kmh, weakening over the day. The alpine will cool Saturday with temperatures in the -10 to -15C range, and -5C at 2000m.
10-20 settled hst with wind over the past few days has added to windslabs at treeline and above. These overlie facets in many places. The Dec. 2 crust and facets are anywhere from 130cm deep in the snowpack in thicker parts, and half that depth in thinner snowpack areas such as Mt. Stephen and Mt. Dennis.
No avalanches were observed in the area on Thursday. Further East, a few larger avalanches on the Dec 2 crust and facets, as well as wind slabs have been triggered up to size 3. In Little Yoho, a few avalanches from previous days have us believing the Dec 2 is becoming active in thinner snowpack areas.
