Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Wednesday night: Mainly clear. Moderate northwest winds.

Thursday: Sunny with cloud increasing in the afternoon. Light northwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -7.

Friday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate northeast winds increasing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -7.

Saturday: Clearing over the day. Light to moderate northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9.

Reports of avalanche activity from Tuesday's storm remain limited, however images in two MIN reports from Wednesday gives a good indication of human triggering potential in the alpine around Sky pilot. 

Looking forward, expect the new snow that accumulated over variable surfaces on Tuesday to remain reactive to human triggering over the near term around steeper slopes at higher elevations that saw more dramatic wind loading during and immediately after the storm.

Up to 30 cm of new snow from Tuesday's storm can be found in alpine and upper treeline areas of the region, with new snow amounts tapering dramatically with elevation. The new snow has buried a mix of surface hoar and melt-freeze crust that varies with elevation and aspect. The bond at this interface is expected to be gradually improving.

Just over 100 cm of snow now overlies another layer of surface hoar on north-facing aspects near and above treeline. This layer was found to be reactive in some snowpack tests last week but is now suspected to be dormant.

The remainder of the snowpack is well-settled. The snowpack depth varies from around 300 to 400 cm around 1200 to 1400 m and tapering rapidly with elevation, with no snow below 700 m.

• Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
• Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
• Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.