Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

On Wednesday and Thursday, several small (up to size 1.5) natural and human triggered wind slab and dry loose avalanches were reported.

No avalanches have been reported on the early December persistent weak layer since January 6, northwest of Kaslo.

Expect to find 25 to 40 cm of soft snow on the surface in sheltered areas, and wind slabs building below wind exposed alpine and treeline ridges.

Below the recent snow, there are potentially a couple different layers of large (up to 25 mm), feathery surface hoar crystals 15-35 cm deep. They may be resting on a crust on slopes that face the sun.

A widespread surface hoar/facet/crust layer is buried 70 to 120 cm. This layer is trending to unreactive in much of the region, but it's not fully healed. It was most recently active south of Trout Lake and east of Slocan Lake on north through east-facing slopes between 1700 and 2300 m.

At treeline, snow depths range from 135 to 200 cm.

Friday Night

Cloudy with 3 to 8 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with up to 4 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with light flurries. 20 to 30 km/h northwest wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Monday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 30 km/h northwest wind. Possible temperature inversion above 1700 m. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
• Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
• Pay attention to isolated wind affected features in the alpine, as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.