Avalanche Forecast

Tuesday night: Cloudy with flurries bringing a trace, moderate to strong northwest wind, alpine low of -12.

Wednesday: Flurries bringing 5-10 cm, moderate to strong northwest wind, alpine high of -6.

Thursday: Sunny, light northwest wind, alpine high of -3.

Friday: A mix of sun and cloud, light to moderate southwest wind, alpine high of -1.

On Monday, natural size 2.5 wind slab avalanches were reported east of Kitimat. Otherwise, avalanche activity was limited to thin size 1 wind slabs and loose dry sluffing up to size 1.5.

On Sunday, several skiers were surprised by a handful of separate incidents of accidentally and remotely triggered size 2-2.5 (large) storm slabs, including the one reported in this MIN. These avalanches slid on the thick crust beneath the most recent storm snow. At least one was on a previously skied slope.

In the alpine, 30-50 cm of recent, variably wind-affected snow appears to be bonding poorly to the underlying crust. A surface crust exists at elevations below 1300 m.

The 10-30 cm thick rain crust beneath the recent snow effectively caps the underlying snowpack, making human triggering of avalanches on deeper weak layers very unlikely.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
• Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
• Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.