Good early season riding exists at higher elevations but now is not the time to charge your way into the line. Creeks, rocks and logs hide just beneath the surface and could put an early end to your season.
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud today with ridge top winds reaching 30km/hr and a freezing level rising to 1400m. A pacific storm pushes inland this evening and will bring 10-20cm of snow by Wednesday night with an additional 20cm on Thursday. Expect winds to increase with the incoming storm.
Snowpack Summary
Snow depths vary from 30cm at Rogers Pass, to 130-150cm in alpine areas. Sheltered areas at and above tree-line are holding unconsolidated snow, but pockets of wind-slab exist in immediate lee areas. A melt-freeze crust in the bottom 50cm of the snowpack is an early layer of concern, especially in the alpine on open, planar slopes.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been observed in the highway corridor or reported from the backcountry in the last 24 hours.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.