Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

Thursday: Sunny with lingering valley cloud due to an alpine temperature inversion. Light southwest winds. Freezing level to 3200 metres with alpine temperatures around +5. Cooler at lower elevations.Friday: A mix of sun and cloud with cloud increasing over the day. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing level dropping to about 2000 metres as the temperature inversion breaks down. Alpine temperatures around 0.Saturday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light to moderate southwest winds. Freezing level to about 1700 metres with alpine temperatures around -1.

No recent avalanche activity has been reported, however stiff wind slabs now exist at treeline and in the alpine on leeward slopes and cross-loaded features. If triggered, these could step down to deeper weak layers and initiate large avalanches. The last significant avalanche observation was submitted on November 28th from Skilokis Creek. Here, a size 2.5 persistent slab was triggered from 150 m away. The possibility for further persistent slab activity will be elevated while temperatures remain unseasonably warm.

Average snowpack depths now total 80-140 cm at treeline elevations and up to 160 cm in the alpine. (Depths of up to 210 cm have been reported from the Howsons.) Wind effect from recent strong southwest to northwest winds penetrated down into treeline elevations and resulted in fairly extensive wind slab formation. Below the wind-affected surface, approximately 30-50 cm of recent snow now overlies two crusts that were buried near the end of November. These crusts are widespread and extend into the alpine. Although recent snowpack tests have shown hard results at these crust interfaces, observations have been limited. Below these crusts, a well settled midpack overlies the late October crust near the base of the snowpack. This "crust/facet combo" is widespread and has been reactive to rider and remote triggers.