Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 9th, 2020 4:13PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
Conrad Janzen,
Parks Canada
New wind slabs and a continued concern for occasional avalanches on the deep persistent layer, especially in thin snow pack areas, means there is still a lot of uncertainty with the snowpack. Enjoy the new snow in lower consequence, sheltered areas!
Summary
Weather Forecast
Clearing skies, cool temperatures and light winds are forecast on Monday with treeline temperatures in the -14 to -16 C range for much of the day. Tuesday the winds increase to strong again and light flurries are forecast with accumulations in the 5-10 cm range.
Snowpack Summary
15-20 cm of snow in the past several days. Strong winds on Sunday created fresh wind slabs at treeline and in the alpine. In thin snowpack areas a dense mid pack sits over basal weak layers of facets and depth hoar. Deep snowpack areas (>150 cm) have a dense base with few weaknesses. A buried rain crust from February 1st is present up to 1850 m.
Avalanche Summary
Ski cutting and explosive work at the ski hills on Sunday produced a few small wind slabs avalanches and cornice failures. No new natural avalanches observed or reported. Continued sporadic natural, skier and explosive triggered avalanches up to size 3 on the deep persistent facets and depth hoar have occurred in the past week.
Confidence
Problems
Wind Slabs
Strong winds on Sunday created new wind slabs at treeline and in the alpine. These could be triggered by skiers or climbers. Choose routes or ski lines where you can avoid wind slabs until they have a chance to bond.
- If triggered the wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Use caution in lee areas. Recent wind loading has created wind slabs.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
High consequence avalanches on the facets and depth hoar at the base of the snowpack remain possible. Large triggers such as cornices and wind slabs, or human triggering in thin snowpack areas are most likely to result in avalanches on this layer.
- Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could trigger the deep persistent slab.
- Avoid shallow snowpack areas where triggering is more likely.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 10th, 2020 4:00PM
