Avalanche Forecast

Fair

Wednesday: Light snow easing off by morning, then a mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level should drop to 400-500 m during the day and sea level overnight. Winds ease to light or moderate from the NW-N. Thursday: Mainly sunny and cooler with increasing cloud late in the day. The freezing level should be at sea level with light to moderate northerly winds. Friday: A system slides in from the northwest bringing moderate precipitation and warmer temperatures. The freezing level should jump up to around 500 m and winds increase to moderate from the southwest.

Reports are limited, but one small rider triggered wind slab avalanche was reported on Monday from a steep cross-loaded slope. This type of avalanche will continue to be the main concern over the next few days. Avoid exposure to a terrain trap below, where a small slide like this could have serious consequences.

Recent strong westerly winds have created pockets of touchy wind slab in exposed lee terrain and cross-loaded features, and scoured windward slopes. Roughly 20-30cm of settling storm snow overlies a variety of old surfaces which formed during the early December cold snap. These surfaces include: sugary faceted snow (which may overlie a crust in some areas), spotty surface hoar in sheltered terrain, and hard wind slab on south-facing alpine terrain. Snowpack depths vary greatly across the region, but are significantly lower than average for this time of year. Terrain below treeline is still mostly below threshold for avalanche activity. Early season riding hazards such as rocks, stumps and logs are lurking below the surface at treeline elevations. In glaciated terrain the forecast snow might just be enough to hide open crevasses where supportive snow bridges have not yet developed.