Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 28th, 2019 8:16AM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
mike smallwood,
Parks Canada
The persistent slab is still lurking, be vigilant and avoid areas that have not already avalanched on the Dec 11th surface hoar.
Summary
Weather Forecast
Flurries of snow today and tonight with light SW ridge top winds, freezing level below valley bottom and an alpine high of -8. Sunday is looking similar with the freezing level rising to 1300m Sunday before falling again. Winds are due to increase from the SW on Monday.
Snowpack Summary
15cm new snow in 48hrs on top of surface hoar at treeline and a thin crust on steep solar aspects. The cold temperatures this week have weakened the top 50cm of previous storm snow. Below that it is quite stiff down to the Dec 11th surface hoar (5-12mm) which is now down 90-130cm. Early season crusts still persist in the rounding lower snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
Several natural avalanches since the pre Christmas storm were observed on all aspects running to size 3. Natural activity is now slowing.
Confidence
Problems
Wind Slabs
15cm of low density new snow and moderate S-SW winds have formed slabs in alpine lees.
- Use caution in lee areas. Recent wind loading have created wind slabs.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: North, North East, East.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
The surface hoar layer down a meter is well preserved in some areas. If triggered this will result in a large avalanche. This consequences are high if this low probability problem is encountered.
- Be wary of slopes that did not previously avalanche.
- Use conservative route selection, stick to supported terrain features, avoid overhead hazards.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 29th, 2019 8:00AM
