Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 31st, 2023 4:30PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
Dvonk,
Avalanche Canada
Fresh windslabs are plentiful up high.
Keep the terrain choices conservative and enjoy getting out to stretch the legs.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new was observed or reported.
Snowpack Summary
Between 5 and 10cm of snow fell late last week. This new snow is overlying a thin melt freeze crust up to 2100m (2300m on solar aspects) that makes the skiing very challenging but so far the bond appears to be good. The upper snowpack continues to strengthen with the only notable shear at the interface with the deeper weak facets in the moderate range. Isolated wind slabs were observed in alpine areas on southern aspects from the recent northerly winds but they do not extend far downslope.
As the snowpack above the weaker base becomes more cohesive the potential for wide propagation increases. This will be a common theme this winter and you should always be thinking about consequences of an avalanche.
Turns are pretty hard to come by as one forecaster described the area as the worst they have ever seen.....
Weather Summary
Wednesday and Thursday will be a lot of the same. A mix of sun and high cloud.
Day time highs arould -10, Trace amounts of snow
Light winds on Wednesday from the West and stronger winds again on Thursday
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
- Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Windslabs in alpine terrain along ridgelines. Reverse loading has these on Southern aspects.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, South West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
Thin areas are where this layer will be easiest to trigger. Be thinking about wide propagations as the snowpack above is more cohesive than before.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 1st, 2023 4:00PM
