Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Apr 6th, 2015 9:15AM

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

bcorrigan, Avalanche Canada

Sea To Sky.

Spring conditions are now with us. Solar warming and cornices should be on the radar for riders. The hazard may go higher than forecast in the afternoon.

Summary

Confidence

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain

Weather Forecast

Sunny with cloudy periods for the next few days. No precipitation in the forecast until Friday. Freezing levels will fluctuate with daytime heating rising as high as 1600 m later in the week. Light southerly winds for most of the week.

Avalanche Summary

Reports are beginning to surface of small, loose wet avalanches in steep south facing terrain. A natural cornice failure was observed at 2300m on a north aspect, but did not trigger an avalanche

Snowpack Summary

Recent storm snow is sitting on a variety of surfaces including a 5 cm thick rain crust that exists up to at 2200m. Recent southwest winds have shifted new accumulations into wind slabs in lee terrain. A facet/crust layer buried in mid-March is down approximately 70-130 cm and is still producing hard but sudden results in snowpack tests. This remains a serious concern in the region due to it's potential to produce very large avalanches. Cornices are also a concern these days. A cornice failure may trigger a large destructive avalanche. Solar aspects are now becoming active with daytime warming.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Small winds slabs still exist in lee terrain and could produce an avalanche large enough to seriously injure a rider.

Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow.>Be alert to conditions that change with elevation.>

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

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Persistent Slabs

No recent activity has been reported on this layer, but it's still there, and could produce a large avalanche if triggered

Be aware of thin areas that may propogate to deeper instabilites.>Avoid convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack.>Be aware of the potential for large, deep avalanches due to the presence of a buried crust/facet layer.>The new snow will require several days to settle and stabilize.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 4

Valid until: Apr 7th, 2015 2:00PM