Avalanche Forecast

High -

Thursday night: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing 10-15 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong southwest winds.Friday: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing around 10 cm of new snow and new snow totals to 25-30 cm. Snowfall continuing overnight. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -6.Saturday: Mainly cloudy with easing flurries bringing up to 5 cm of new snow and new snow totals to 40-50 cm. Light winds shifting from southwest to northeast. Alpine high temperatures around -12 and falling over the day.Sunday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -26.

Reports from the region on Wednesday included one observation of a small remote (from a skier at a distance) triggered wind slab occurring in the lee of ridgecrest on a north aspect at 1850 metres. On Tuesday reported avalanche activity was limited to a size 2 cornice failure above a southeast facing slope at 2500 m. No new avalanche activity reported on Monday. On Sunday cornice failures to size 1.5 were observed on north through east facing terrain around 2000 m. Small natural wind slab avalanches to size 1 were reported on east and northeast facing terrain between 2000 and 2300 m.On Saturday a skier triggered a small persistent slab avalanche on an east facing feature at 2000 m, failing on the mid-January surface hoar.

New snow has begun to bury the previous surface, which consists mainly of wind-affected surfaces at higher elevations with a new layer of surface hoar present at lower elevations and in some protected areas closer to treeline. Sun crust is being buried on steep, south-facing aspects. Areas where sun crust and surface hoar coexist could produce particularly touchy slabs as new snow accumulates. 15 to 45 cm of older storm snow continues to consolidate above the mid-January persistent weak layer (PWL). This PWL is made up of large surface hoar that is most prevalent at and below treeline, with enhanced reactivity noted between 1500 and 1800 m. On steep solar aspects this interface presents as a crust, there may be locations where the surface hoar actually sits on the crust. Potential exists for this layer to become increasingly reactive as new snow adds load to the snowpack. Slab releases or loose snow avalanches formed of new snow may also act as a trigger for this layer.The middle and lower portions of the snowpack are generally well-settled and strong.