Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain on Thursday

Wednesday. Mostly dry. Treeline temperatures around -9C. Extreme ridgetop winds gusting to 100km/h from the SW. Thursday: Flurries. Temperatures warming up with freezing levels spiking to around 800m briefly in the afternoon. Ridgetop winds around 60 km/h from the SW. Friday: Flurries. Treeline temperatures around -7C. Ridgetop winds around 40km/h from the SW.

A size 1 avalanche was triggered by a skier on 29th Dec in a pocket of wind slab. I suspect similar events are possible with the current conditions, although there have been no further reports since this event. A natural size 2 slab avalanche was observed in the Hankin area that would have happened around December 28th. Most likely triggered by a cornice fall on a North facing slope, it stepped down deeper in the snowpack, suspecting the November 6th crust. For more information check out the report here.

The snowpack is generally shallow (about 1m deep). and strong winds have scoured some alpine slopes to ground. Wind slabs exist in many wind-exposed areas, however their distribution is quite variable and some areas have no wind-effect at all. It is still possible to find cold, low density snow at the surface in wind sheltered areas. Below treeline, very loose cold snow is sluffing easily from steep terrain and early season hazards like exposed stumps and rocks are still present in places. Professionals are still mindful of a facet/crust layer near the base of the snowpack. Although triggering it has become unlikely, it may be possible from a thin-spot trigger point or with a very heavy load (e.g. cornice fall). A natural slab avalanche that happened on December 28th illustrates that caution is still warranted for this layer.