Human triggered avalanches remain possible at all elevations. A cautious approach to backcountry travel is recommended.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
TUESDAY NIGHT -Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries / northwest winds 10-20 km/h / alpine low temperature near -13WEDNESDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / northeast winds 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near -10THURSDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / west winds 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near -13FRIDAY - Mainly cloudy with flurries, 2-4 cm / southwest winds, 15-35 km/h / alpine high temperature near -12
Avalanche Summary
On Monday there were reports of several natural and human triggered avalanches to size 1.5. Several of these were triggered remotely (from a distance). Many of these avalanches were wind slabs, but several of them failed on a persistent weak layer that was buried in mid January. Numerous natural and human triggered avalanches up to size 2 were reported on Sunday. There were also two reports of persistent slab avalanches, one triggered by explosives and one occurred naturally. These were size 3 and 2.5 respectively and both occurred in the alpine on south and west aspects.Several notable skier triggered avalanches were reported on Saturday. These included size 1-2 storm slab, wind slab, and persistent slab avalanches on all aspects at treeline elevations. Some were old buried wind slabs while others were new snow reacting above recently buried weak layers and crusts. Natural loose dry avalanches were also observed in steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
15 to 40 cm of low density snow has fallen over the past week, with greater amounts in the south of the region. Recent northerly winds have formed wind slabs in lee areas. This snow is sitting on a surface hoar (feathery crystals) and crust layer that was buried on February 7th and could eventually develop into a problem layer.Two additional weak layers of surface hoar have produced large avalanches in the region over the past month. A layer buried at the end of January is around 40 cm deep and a layer buried mid-January is between 50 and 90 cm deep. The mid-January layer may also be associated with a crust on southerly aspects. These layers are most prominent at treeline and below.The remainder of the snowpack is considered generally strong. However, there have been sporadic reports of very large avalanches that have released near the base of the snowpack. Most of these avalanches have been in the high alpine. There has been about one report a week for the past month.
kdevine,
Avalanche Canada
