Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - The snowpack structure is generally well understood. Recent weather patterns have resulted in a high degree of snowpack variability within the region.

Wednesday Night: Clear. No new snow expected. Light north wind. Alpine low around -10 °C.

Thursday: Sunny. No new snow expected. Light to moderate northwest ridgetop wind. Alpine high around -6 °C.

Friday: Sunny with scattered cloud. No new snow expected. Moderate southwest ridgetop wind. Possible temperature inversion could make for temperatures above -5 °C above 1500 m.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy. 2-5 cm of snow expected. Strong south ridgetop wind, trending to extreme at higher elevations. Temperature inversion breaking down. Alpine high around -7 °C.

On Wednesday, an AST course reported some natural windslab avalanches to size 1.5 in steep alpine features, as well as several, size 1 natural loose dry avalanches, and rider triggered slab avalanches. For more info, see their Mountain Information Network post here.  

On Tuesday, a professional operation northeast of Hazleton reported a couple of natural avalanches up to size 2.5 that may have occurred on Monday. They were on north or northeast aspects around treeline, and one was a windslab, while the other was a cornice failure that likely triggered a windslab avalanche on the slope below. 

On Monday, avalanche activity was limited to thin, size 1 wind slabs and loose dry sluffing.

Several skier triggered wind slabs size 1-1.5 have been reported over the past few days, most in predictably wind loaded lees or convexities, near ridgetop, around treeline or higher. On Saturday near Kispiox, a size 1.5 was accidentally triggered on a previously skied slope and ran surprisingly far on the underlying crust.

On Wednesday, up to 20 cm of new snow fell with mostly light winds. This new snow overlies a variety of old, generally wind-affected surfaces.

this new snow overlies variable wind effect at upper elevations, and exposed windward features that were previously scoured down to the crust in some areas in the Babines. 

20-50 cm from the snow surface is a 10-20 cm thick rain crust which effectively caps the underlying snowpack, making human triggering of avalanches on weak layers deeper in the snowpack unlikely, but this crust has been breaking down in some locations, with faceting observed above and below it. Large loads like big chunks of falling cornice may now be able to trigger weak layers below the crust.

• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
• Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.
• Recent new snow may be hiding windslabs that were easily visible before the snow fell.
• Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
• Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
• Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.