Surface hoar has just been buried. Assess for possible windloading over this weakness the next few days. Loose sluffs appear to be picking up enough mass to be a concern for ice climbers. Quality skiing is limited to sheltered treeline locations.
Weather Forecast
Sunday overnight will bring light flurries. Monday may have a weak warm front followed by a cold front in the evening with limited amounts of snow. Expect gusty overnight winds. Tuesday is an unsettled and cool airmass with gusty alpine winds. Tuesday night into Wednesday may bring a more organized system but still too far away to have confidence.
Snowpack Summary
7mm surface hoar formed over New-years. It is now buried by 5cm of new snow. We call this the 'Jan 6th layer' which will need to be assessed as snowload increases. The mid-pack remains supportive where the snow depth is more than a meter otherwise facetting continues where shallow. Wind slabs are present in lee features at treeline and above.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche patrols were conducted on the Maligne Road and the Icefields Parkway Saturday. Visibility was excellent and no new avalanches were observed other than a few loose size 1.5-2 out of very steep rocks where snowpack is shallow facetting it to point of no internal cohesion. Trigger likely was solar influenced but not for all.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.