Touchy storm slabs are reactive to human triggers. Use small slopes with low consequence to test the bond of the most recent snow.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Sunny and warm by Tuesday afternoon... and then some wet snow on Wednesday / Thursday. MONDAY: Sunny, warming significantly with alpine highs to +3 Celsius / Moderate southeasterly winds / Freezing level around 1800 m TUESDAY: Sunny with cloud developing in the afternoon / High temperatures to +5 Celsius / Light, southwesterly winds/ Freezing level around 2800 m. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with some wet snow at higher elevations / Moderate southerly winds / Freezing level around 2500m.
Avalanche Summary
No new observed. See Whitewater Ski Patrol's great video (
here) posted on the Backcountry Skiing Canada web site for a concise summary of details to Feb 9th, and some excellent video footage of a Size 2.5 avalanche running on the Goat Slide path near Whitewater (with crown height to 2.5m).
Snowpack Summary
At the end of last week up to 30cm additional snow fell (mostly near Nelson) and brought the recent storm snow total to 65-100cm, creating touchy storm slabs at all upper elevations and aspects. Snowfall amounts have been highest around Kootenay Pass. Slabs have been reported as very reactive to human triggers and are sitting on a variety of surfaces; including scoured surfaces in wind exposed terrain, surface hoar (size 2-3 mm) in sheltered locations, and sun crust on steep solar aspects. Snowpack tests near the Valhallas have given moderate, propagation-likely results down 50-70cms on the Feb 3rd interface. Areas with a shallower snowpack (less than 150 cm) have a generally weak snowpack structure with sugary facets near the ground. This includes shallow alpine slopes and most of the Rossland range. It is possible for storm slab avalanches to step-down to these deeper weak layers, resulting in large, destructive avalanches.
mgrist,
Avalanche Canada
