Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Wind speed and direction is uncertain

TUESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate northwest winds, treeline temperatures around -12 C.WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, light winds, treeline temperatures around -15 C.THURSDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate west winds, treeline temperatures around -18 C.

A skier remotely triggered a large (size 2) wind slab in the Shames backcountry area on Sunday. The avalanche started on a steep south-facing rocky ridgetop at 1400 m. Wind slabs were reported to have been building quickly in the area at the time and were reactive to skier traffic.

Strong outflow winds dramatically affected the surface snow, scouring some slopes down to an old crust and forming hard deposits in many other areas. Sheltered areas may still have 20-40 cm of powder from previous storms, but winds have come from a variety of directions and affected much of the terrain. Wind slabs rest on a variety of old surfaces including a thick melt-freeze crust. In some sheltered locations, soft feathery surface hoar crystals may sit above the crust.The snowpack is reported to be generally strong below this crust, with the possible exception of areas around Stewart and northern parts of the region where the late October crust can be found deep in the snowpack. This deep crust has been been associated with weak sugary snow and could possible be triggered in shallow snowpack areas.