Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 26th, 2021 4:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Snow Safety,

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The deep freeze is not going away any time soon.

Being prepared to stay warm will be key to insure your personal safety, as even a minor injury can become very serious in these temperatures.

Summary

Weather Forecast

The Arctic air mass continues to bring cold temperatures to the region. Day time high temps will be near -25 C at valley bottom with the evening lows dropping below -30 C. A slight inversion may be present above treeline. A clearing trend will begin Monday as a ridge of high pressure forms over the region.

Snowpack Summary

10-40 cm of snow over the last few days with S-SW winds have developed wind slabs at treeline and above. There is 50-70 cm over the Dec 2 crust/facet combo which exists below 2200m...this has not been an active problem yet but we are monitoring it closely. Shallow areas (<100 cm) may still have weak basal facets and a DPS issue near the ground.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity was reported Sunday with limited observations.

Confidence

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Recent snow and previous S-SW winds have created wind slabs at treeline and above. These are slowly becoming more difficult to trigger but can still be triggered by skiers/boarders in the right spot.

  • Watch for surface cracking and stiffer surface layers of snow. Avoid wind loaded terrain.
  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

JavaScript chart by amCharts 3.20.8

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Dec 27th, 2021 4:00PM

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