Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Regions
Glacier.
Loose dry avalanches have enough punch to knock people around in steep terrain. Be cautious of sluffing if you're thinking about hitting big terrain, like on Tupper and Macdonald.
Weather Forecast
Back to the cold weather. Sunny with scattered cloud today, alpine high of -16*C, and light to moderate reverse winds out of the NE. More of the same for Monday and Tuesday, with cold temp's, mix of sun and cloud, and light ridge-top winds
Snowpack Summary
A dusting of new snow covers hard wind slabs and scoured surfaces in the alpine and exposed areas at tree line. Cold temperatures have created a weak and faceted upper snowpack. Wind slabs have been most reactive on solar aspects where crusts are buried. The Jan 17 surface hoar is down 50-70cm at TL and below.
Avalanche Summary
A natural loose, dry size 2.0 avalanche hit a party of 3 people on Single Bench on Mt Tupper. Two were caught and went 250 and 600m respectively. One person sustained a broken arm. See MIN. Several loose, dry to sz 2.5 were observed from Macdonald Gullies 6, 9, and 10.
Confidence
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.