Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 3rd, 2017 4:13PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Storm Slabs.

shorton, Avalanche Canada

South Columbia.

Fresh snow with cold weather is offering excellent riding, but it's critical to approach avalanche terrain cautiously because large storm slabs are still possible.

Summary

Confidence

Weather Forecast

MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate northwest wind, alpine temperatures around -10 C.TUESDAY: Mostly sunny, light northwest wind, alpine temperatures warming to -5 C.WEDNESDAY: Sunny, light wind, inversion forming with alpine temperatures possibly reaching above 0 C.

Avalanche Summary

Storm slabs were very touchy on Saturday, with numerous reports of human-triggered and natural avalanches in the size 1-2 range. A ski cut on a wind-loaded northeast feature near Revelstoke propagated down to the late November crust and produced a size 2.5 avalanche.

Snowpack Summary

Snow from last week's storms is settling and getting redistributed by northwest winds. Roughly 30-70 cm of recent snow sits above various crusts from the warm weather in late November. Reports suggest the snow is bonding to the crusts so far, but there's potential for this layer to develop into a bigger problem in the near-future. Snow depths decrease rapidly below treeline, where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm slabs remain possible to trigger as 30-70 cm of snow from last week settles above a buried crust. Extra caution is needed on wind-loaded terrain features.

Choose well supported terrain without convexities.Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.Watch for whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Dec 4th, 2017 2:00PM