Thinner snowpack areas within the Little Yoho region are the main concern. In these areas human triggering of the basal facets is still possible. Probe often to help determine snow depths and assess the strength of the lower snowpack.
Summary
Weather Forecast
Temperatures will increase slightly on Tuesday but remain near -10 C at treeline. Winds will pick up out of the SW on Tuesday morning, becoming strong by late afternoon. A few cm's of snow is expected but accumulations will be limited. On Wednesday winds are expected to calm down, with 5-10 cm snow arriving before a clearing trend begins Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
5-15 cm of snow sits over the Jan 17 layer of surface hoar, or sun crust. Thin wind slabs can be found in alpine lee areas from strong SW winds on Saturday. Of greatest concern are the weak facets and depth hoar at the base of the snowpack. In thinner snowpack areas (i.e. less than 150 cm deep) triggering a slab on these facets is more likely.
Avalanche Summary
Little natural avalanche activity has been observed over the last week. A group in the Emerald Lake area
triggered a wind slab on Saturday in lee alpine terrain, and a group on Dolomite Shoulder triggered
a slab on the basal facets on Sunday. Small wind slabs have been triggered by control work at the local ski hills in the last few days.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Wednesday
conrad janzen,
Parks Canada
