Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Apr 19th, 2023 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
DH,
Avalanche Canada
The hazard may be locally elevated if more snow falls than forecast.
Assess the bond of new snow before increasing your exposure, human triggering remains possible.
Summary
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday a field team was able to easily trigger several small slab avalanches at the interface of Sunday's storm.
On Monday a remotely triggered size 2 slab avalanche occurred at Balu pass.
Minimal natural avalanche activity in recent days.
Snowpack Summary
12cm of new snow sits over a crust on all aspects except high due north which still hold dry snow. Below this the Apr 9 crust is down 20-40cm (BTL) and Mar 31 crust is down 40-60cm. Both remain reactive in tests.
The mid and lower snowpack are generally strong but the Nov 17 basal weakness can still be found 20-40cm off the ground.
Weather Summary
A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries continues through to the weekend.
Tonight: Cloudy w/ flurries 5cm, Alp low -7 °C, light winds, FZL 1000m
Thurs: Cloudy w/ sunny periods flurries, Alp high -3 °C, light southwest winds, FZL 1900m
Fri: Sun/cloud, isolated flurries, Alp high -4 °C, light west winds, FZL 1900m
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
- Keep in mind the crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.
- Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Expect storm slab reactivity to persist longer in wind loaded features and/or where it sits over a crust. Where the sun comes out and warms the surface snow it may be enough to increase reactivity and time to scale back your exposure.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
Snow that fell in the past 2 weeks covers a series of crusts combined with surface hoar/facets in some locations. These layers have shown wide propagation and remain a concern. Storm slabs in motion have the potential to step down to these layers creating large avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Apr 20th, 2023 4:00PM
