Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 1st, 2017 4:03PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
grant statham,
Avalanche Canada
Ski conditions are excellent in Little Yoho right now - just watch out for triggering wind slabs. Ice climbers - Mt Dennis should be fine as natural avalanches are unlikely, but the exposed slopes on Mt Stephen are more suspect (Twisted, etc).
Summary
Weather Forecast
An arctic ridge of high pressure is descending into the area and will dominate for the next few days. Dress warm, as lows of near -30 are expected with daytime highs reaching -18 under clear skies with light winds from the north. It looks like the temperatures will start to moderate and rise slowly by Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
The storm snow from last week has settled and now tops a 150 cm snowpack at treeline. No active weak layers exist within the snowpack, and the main issue is wind slabs in alpine areas that were formed by strong winds over the past week. The snowpack will continue to stabilize with the onset of the cold, arctic air over the next few days.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed or reported on Sunday.
Confidence
Problems
Wind Slabs
Pay close attention to the texture of the snow surface as you are traveling, and watch out for dense, wind drifted snow which could indicate the presence of a wind slab. Areas near ridge crests or sides of gullies are obvious places to find these.
- If triggered the storm/wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Aspects: North, North East, East.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 2nd, 2017 4:00PM
