Avalanche Forecast

Good

Tuesday: An approaching Pacific frontal system from the North may bring cloudy skies with light snow amounts near 10cm through the day. Ridgetop winds from the South @50km/hr. Treeline temperatures near -12. Wednesday brings mainly unsettled conditions with light snow in the morning. Ridgetop winds moderate from the SW. Thursday: Cloudy, few flurries. Treeline temperatures near -10. Ridgetop winds mlight-moderate from the NW.

The Duffy Lake area saw widespread natural avalanche activity up to size 2.5 overnight Saturday 25th. Rider triggered avalanches are likely to continue on the Duffy. A size 2 skier triggered avalanche was reported Saturday the 25th from Chief Pascal. Please follow the link below to read the full incident report. The Coquilhalla area saw a few natural avalanches up to size 2.5 on Sunday the 26th. Several human triggered avalanches have also occurred in the Coquihalla area. A size 2 on a East aspect @ 1670m, and several size 1 on South aspects at treeline and below. The Needles Peak area also saw several human triggered size 2 avalanches over the weekend. The snowpack is very tricky at the moment. Backcountry travel requires local knowledge, extensive experience and training. The obvious clues that show snowpack instability may not be there. You need to dig deep, do your detective work and make good decisions. Don't let the sunny skies, and other tracks fool you, and/ or lead you into a situation you won't be able to deal with. Rider triggered avalanches are likely. Please follow the link below to read the full details described in the incident report database. http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view

Recent storm snow totals in the Duffey Lakes is 30-40cm while in the Coquihalla summit area it's 30-40cm. In both areas, this overlies a previous 40cm. This most recent interface is within the new storm snow, producing easy test results and very reactive to rider triggers.The southerly winds have lee loaded open treeline and alpine terrain that faces north through east. The mid February interface (down roughly 60cm) includes crusts at lower elevations, surface hoar in protected areas and hard wind slabs in the alpine. Below this the lower snowpack is well bonded and strong.