Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable

THURSDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, light southwesterly winds, and freezing levels in valley bottoms with alpine temperatures reaching -10 C.FRIDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, light southwesterly winds, and freezing levels in valley bottoms with alpine temperatures reaching -5 C.SATURDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, moderate southwesterly winds, and freezing levels rising as high as 2200 m.

In the south of the region where wind slabs are the primary concern, avalanche activity tapered-off somewhat on Tuesday. There was, however, one report of a cornice failure triggering a Size 1.5 thin slab on the slope below. In the Gothics, a steep cutblock ran Size 2 naturally.In the far north of the region near Blue River, a snowmobiler triggered a Size 2 persistent slab avalanche running on facets down 80 cm on a short slope below a rock/tree band. A snowmobiler also triggered a size 3 persistent slab avalanche on Sunday a south aspect in the alpine which released on surface hoar down 100 cm. Check out the MIN post for more details. In this part of the region, a more widespread persistent slab problem exists. If you are recreating in the Monashees near Blue River or Valemount, use the Cariboos bulletin for more representative conditions.

30-60 cm of recent storm snow typically overlies the variable mid-January interface with the largest snowfall amounts in the north of the region. The buried interface consists of wind affected surfaces in exposed terrain, surface hoar up to 10 mm in sheltered areas, and/or widespread faceted old snow. The bond between the new snow and the old surface has generally gained a lot of strength with the colder temperatures that followed the storm but weaknesses may still be lingering, especially where surface hoar is preserved. Strong southwest winds during the storm had redistributed the new snow and developed wind slabs in leeward terrain features. Isolated moderate outflow winds may have more recently resulted in reverse wind loading.The mid-December facet/surface hoar persistent weak layer can be found buried 100-120 cm deep. This layer is now dormant in the south of the region but is still a real concern in the far north of the region in the mountains around Blue River and Valemount. It is highly recommended to investigate this layer before committing to any large, unsupported features.