Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Tutshi, Wheaton, White Pass East, White Pass West, Yukon.
Reactive wind slabs may be present on most aspects.
The persistent slab problem remains a concern primarily on northeasterly aspects.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche observation since last weekend. This is should not be an indication that they are not occurring.
If you head to the backcountry please help out your community by sharing your experiences and submitting a report to the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Trace amounts of snow continue to rest on aging wind slabs on all aspects Approximately 30 to 50 cm down a decomposing crust, up to 5 cm thick, can be found. It appears to be bonding well to layers above and below and is widespread up to 1300 m and isolated as high as 1700 m.
A weak layer of surface hoar and facets may be buried about 90 to 140 cm deep on north-to-east aspects. This layer may rest on a harder melt-freeze crust. Where preserved, this layer, if triggered, is capable of producing very large avalanches.
Weather Summary
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy, trace accumulation, winds north 25 km/h, treeline temperatures -20 ºC.
Tuesday
Sunny, no accumulation, winds north switching to southwest 15 km/h increasing to 25 late in the day, treeline temperatures hovering around -18 ºC.
Wednesday
Cloudy, 8 cm accumulation by noon and another 10 by midnight, winds southerly 35 km/h gusting to 75, treeline temperatures around -10 ºC.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy, 2 cm accumulation, winds southwest 35 km/h, treeline temperatures -8 ºC.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- The best and safest riding will be on slopes that have soft snow without any slab properties.
- Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
- Avoid slopes that sound hollow or drum-like.
- Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Smaller amounts of low-density snow continue to accumulate. Variable winds may have redistributed much of this snow very easily into wind slabs on all aspects.
Aspects: North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5
Persistent Slabs
We continue to see the occasional avalanche on a weak layer of surface hoar and facets buried about 100 cm deep. Resulting in large avalanches that have a wide propagation. Some of these avalanches were remotely triggered from hundreds of metres away. The common trend is that they are on north-to-east aspects, around 1500 to 1700 m in elevation.
Aspects: North, North East, East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 2 - 3