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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2022–Dec 18th, 2022

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Blue River, Premier, Clemina, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Whatshan.

Avalanche activity is decreasing however we continue to receive daily reports of large human-triggered avalanches on the persistent weak layer. Be patient as this layer continues to stabilize.

Don't forget that with cold temperatures and some of the shortest daylight hours of the year, any sort of incident (even broken equipment) could quickly become an epic.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche activity is slowly decreasing since early this week, however spooky, remote-triggered avalanches continue to be reported. On Friday in the northern Selkirks skiers remotely triggered a size 2 avalanche which sympathetically triggered a 2.5 avalanche on an adjacent path. These avalanches occurred at 2300m on a southeast aspect. Throughout the region, several machine accidental avalanches were reported to size 2.

On Thursday, skiers remotely triggered a large size 2 avalanche in the Monashees north of Hwy1. This avalanche occurred around 1900 m on an east aspect and was triggered from about 40 m away by skiers on a low-angle bench.

On Wednesday, skiers triggered several size 1-2 slab avalanches in the Selkirks, including a couple of size 1.5 avalanches remotely triggered in treeline openings around 1900-2000 m.

Monday

Snowpack Summary

Snowpack depths at treeline range from 100 - 150 cm. In the alpine, snowpack depths are highly variable from extensive wind-affect in many locations.

Surface: 5 cm of new snow now overlies 5-8 mm surface hoar in sheltered areas. On steep solar slopes, new snow overlies a sun crust. Moderate westerly winds have built thin wind slabs in alpine lees.

Upper-pack: 40-50 cm settling snow overlies a weak layer of 5 mm surface hoar in sheltered and shaded terrain and a sun crust on sunny south-facing slopes.

Mid-pack: Buried 60-90 cm deep, is a persistent weak layer of surface hoar, crust, and faceted crystals. This layer has been most reactive at treeline between 1700-2200 m, but it was also observed as low as 1450 m and on all aspects.

Lower-pack: Below the mid-November layer is a generally weak, faceted snowpack.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Partly cloudy with isolated flurries, 2 cm accumulation. Light southwesterly ridgetop winds. Overnight alpine temperatures drop to -20 C.

Sunday

Colder, the arctic air settles in. Cloudy with sunny periods. Light northeasterly ridgetop winds. An alpine daytime high temperature of -21 C.

Monday

Sunny skies and light northeasterly ridgetop winds. An alpine daytime high temperature of -25 C.

Tuesday

Sunny with cloudy periods. Light southwesterly ridgetop winds. An alpine daytime high temperature of -20 C.

Tuesday

 

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to the presence of deeply buried weak layers.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.