Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with light winds. Flurries. Alpine temperature near -12.THURSDAY: Cloudy with moderate to strong south-westerly winds. 5-15 cm snow. Alpine temperature near -15.FRIDAY: Cloudy with moderate to strong south-westerly winds. 10-40 cm snow. Alpine temperature near -15.

On Monday, skiers near Shames reported sluffs were running a long way and picking up mass. A skier triggered a size 2 wind slab on Sunday on a NW aspect at about 1400 m near Terrace.

The snowpack is variable across the region. Wind slabs and storm slabs may be found on some slopes in the alpine and at treeline. The upper snowpack consists of several layers of interest, including a breakable temperature /rain crust, surface hoar and facets. A hard crust from mid-December sits deeper in the snowpack, about 50 cm down.Beneath the mid-December crust the snowpack is reported to be generally strong with the possible exception of areas around Stewart and northern parts of the region where the late-October, basal crust can be found near the base of the snowpack. Weak sugary faceted snow may exist around this deeply buried crust and could be triggered from shallow snowpack areas.