Wind slabs at upper elevations, and persistent slabs at lower elevations remain a concern as they can be triggered by humans. A cautious approach to backcountry travel is recommended.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
MONDAY NIGHT - Clear periods / west winds 10-20 km/h / alpine low temperature near -17TUESDAY - Mainly cloudy with flurries / southwest winds 10-25 km/h / alpine high temperature near -11WEDNESDAY - A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries / northeast winds 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near -9THURSDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / east winds, 10-15 km/h / alpine high temperature near -12
Avalanche Summary
Preliminary reports from Monday indicate continued avalanche activity with both human triggered wind slab avalanches and natural persistent slab avalanches to size 2 being reported.On Sunday, there were reports of both natural and human triggered avalanches to size 2. Most of these were either storm slabs or wind slabs, but a few of them were persistent slabs that failed on a persistent weak layer that was buried in mid January. There is a great MIN report of a human triggered persistent slab avalanche on Sunday in the Hellroaring Creek area
here.Small wind slab and storm slab avalanches were triggered in alpine terrain on Saturday.On Friday, a persistent slab avalanche was triggered by a skier, releasing on the late-January surface hoar layer described in the Snowpack Summary. The avalanche was around 50 cm deep, on a south aspect, and in alpine terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Around 20 to 30 cm of recent snow has been blown around by recent strong, variable wind, creating touchy wind slabs in exposed areas. In the south and west of the region, recent snowfall amounts are closer to 40 to 50 cm. This new snow sits above wind-affected snow and/or sugary faceted snow.Beneath this lies two weak layers of surface hoar that were buried at the end of January and mid-January. These layers are around 30 to 70 cm deep. These layers are most prominent at treeline and below treeline elevations.The base of the snowpack is composed of weak and sugary faceted grains that overly a melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has produced large and destructive avalanches that are sporadic in nature and very difficult to predict. It is most likely to be triggered from areas where the snowpack is shallow and weak. Rocky alpine bowls, ridge crests, and rocky outcroppings are some examples of terrain features to be wary of. See the Forecaster Blog
here for more information on this problem.
kdevine,
Avalanche Canada
