Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable

Cloudy Wednesday then clear and cold until light snow arrives on Friday. Overnight lows near -22 Celsius in some locations. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and isolated flurries possible. Tree line temperatures around -14 Celsius. Winds moderate westerly 20-30 Km/hr.THURSDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods. Tree line temperature around -12 Celsius. Winds light southeast 15 Km/hr.FRIDAY: Light snow (5-10 cm possible) . Tree line temperature around -11 Celsius. Moderate southwest winds 20-30 Km/hr.

On Monday we received reports of a cornice triggered size 2.5 slab avalanche on a high north east alpine face near 2900m. We also received reports of natural wind slabs to size 2.5 (most crowns 20-40cm thick) on a wide range of aspects above 1900m elevation. On Sunday, several natural wind slab avalanches to size 2 were reported on primarily east aspects between 2200m and 2600m.On Sunday, skiers were able to intentionally trigger small (size 1) wind slab avalanches in immediate down wind (lee) features near ridge crests. See here for an update on conditions near Golden. Although deeper, persistent avalanche activity is becoming less frequent, these avalanches point to the continued reactivity and destructive potential of these layers.

Recent storm snow totals are 15-30 cm with more in the very south of the region near Kimberley, where totals are closer to 50 cm. Moderate south west through north west winds shifted these accumulations into deeper, reactive slabs in wind-exposed terrain. The recent snow sits on a mix of older wind slabs in exposed higher elevation terrain, a sun crust on steep solar aspects and surface hoar on sheltered slopes.Below the snow surface several persistent weak layers make up a troublesome snowpack which is not tolerating recent storm loads. In the top 1-2 m of the snowpack, two surface hoar/ crust layers buried in January can be found. Expect to find one or other of these on all aspects and elevations.Deeper in the snowpack (around 200 cm deep) is a facet/crust/surface hoar layer from December, most prevalent at and below tree line.Near the base of the snowpack is a crust/facet combo, most likely to be triggered from thin spots in the alpine.All of these layers have produced large avalanches recently. The wide distribution and ongoing reactivity of these layers suggests that avoidance through choosing simple terrain is the best strategy.