New snow and wind have changed the game from the stable conditions of the past few days. Ice climbers there has been strong winds blowing snow around Mt Stephen and Mt Field. Soft windslabs and sluffs are to be expected in many locations on Friday.
Fresh windslabs are easy to trigger, especially these ones that are sitting on such a firm surface underneath. Expect to find them in most leeward, drifted slopes. Ski cutting to check for this on your tour is a good idea.
The new snow is very low cohesion and being blown about by the wind. Ice climbers in particular might encounter increased sluffing and spindrift in confined gullies.
A NW flow over the region will continue to bring snow, wind and warm temperatures over the next few days. Expect another 5 cm for Friday with freezing levels potentially reaching 1700 m. Then another 5 cm for Saturday. Weather patterns change again starting Sunday when the temperature begins to plummet.
15-20 cm of new snow has fallen in the past 24-hrs with strong winds creating fresh, sensitive windslabs at treeline and above. Areas to the west received the most snow. These slabs may be small, but will release easily on firm surfaces underneath. The Jan 30th surface hoar/ sun crust interface exists 30-40 cm below the surface and is unreactive.
Soft windslabs up to size 1 were reported by both SSV and LL ski resorts on Thursday, fracture depths to a maximum of 30 cm. Additionally, extensive sluffing was observed through the mist in steeper terrain near Yoho.
