Skiing is fantastic with calm winds and silky snow. Expect this to change on Thursday as winds increase.
Weather Forecast
Tuesday: Calm winds and increasing cloudiness through the day. Alpine high -8Wednesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries as the winds switch to SW increasing in the eveningThursday: Flurries ending in the morning with ridgetop winds increasing to 50km/h from the SW. Rising temperatures with an alpine high of -4
Snowpack Summary
10-15cm of powder is covering variety of wind affected surfaces at all elevations including old windslabs on all aspects in the Alpine and at Treeline. This loose snow will form new windslabs with increasing wind beginning Tuesday night. The midpack is generally strong in thick snowpack locations, and is bridging weak basal facets.
Avalanche Summary
A field trip to the Cameron Lake area on Monday saw isolated small loose dry avalanches out of steep rocky terrain
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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.