Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations on Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud is expected on Monday. Alpine wind is expected to be light from the north. Afternoon freezing levels are forecast to be around 500 m with treeline temperatures around -8C. A mix of sun and cloud is expected for Tuesday and Wednesday. Alpine wind is forecast to remain light from the north and treeline temperatures are expected to be around -10C.

On Saturday, two human triggered persistent slab avalanches were reported in the Allen Creek area. These both released on the mid-December layer and resulted in large avalanches, one of which buried two snowboarders.  A third rider triggered avalanche occurred in Allen Creek on Friday and five snowmobilers were buried, two of them fully buried.  Check out the MIN posts and a great video on the Frozen Pirate Snow Services Facebook page for more details.  Also reported on Saturday were several size 2-3 persistent slab avalanches which were triggered with explosives on all aspects in the alpine. On Friday, three large remotely triggered avalanches occurred. Two of these released on the mid-January layer below the recent storm snow. The third released on mid-December layer and was triggered from 100 m away. On Monday, the recent storm snow is expected to remain reactive to human triggering in wind loaded terrain and steep unsupported or convex features. The mid-December weak layer is a real concern for the region and persistent slab avalanches remain possible. It may be possible to trigger this layer in shallow snowpack areas or smaller storm slab avalanches could step down.

40-60 cm of recent storm snow typically overlies the variable mid-January interface which consists wind affected surfaces in exposed terrain, surface hoar up to 7 mm in sheltered areas, and/or widespread faceted old snow. Strong southwest winds during the storm have redistributed the new snow and developed wind slabs in leeward terrain features. In deeper snowpack parts of the region, the mid-December facet layer typically lies around 1.5 m below the surface. In shallower areas, particularly those in the southeast (Allen Creek), North (Sugar Bowl) and likely some western areas around Quesnel and Barkerville, the snowpack is likely a lot more suspect, with a thicker, more pronounced facet layer buried only 50-60 cm below the surface.  This layer woke up during the recent storm and has remained reactive to human triggers several days after the storm ended.  Several large human triggered avalanches including events with multiple burials have occurred on this layer over the weekend.