Avalanche Forecast

On Sunday Whistler SAR responded to two different instances involving people getting caught by avalanches. The first was someone that accidentally released a size 1.5 wind slab at just above the treeline on a southwest aspect. The avalanche released between 20 and 80 cm and was enough for the person to get buried up to their knees. They were dug out and Whistler SAR evacuated them with minor injuries. The incident was from a size 1.5 storm slab avalanche. It occurred upper treeline as well and was located in the Spearhead Range. This skier was also extracted by Whistler SAR with minor injuries.

A local operator on Saturday, triggered a cornice to fail with the use of explosives. Although it did not trigger the slope below it, it did create a size 2.5 avalanche.

Since Wednesday there have been several skier-triggered size 1 wind slab avalanches reported. These have been on the west and southwest aspects and in the alpine and at treeline.

Up to 25 cm of recent storm snow may have been transported by southerly winds in the alpine and at treeline. In sheltered areas, this new snow will have fallen on low-density snow that fell earlier last week which sits on top of two distinct surfaces. On solar aspects, a crust can be expected and on polar aspects, facets may be found.

A couple of crusts with facets sitting above them can be found at treeline and above down 80 to 180 cm.

The remainder of the mid and lower snowpack is well-settled and strong.

Monday Night

Cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, winds southwest 25 to 30 km/h gusting to 45, treeline temperatures around -7 °C with freezing level reaching 1200 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with sunny breaks, 10 cm accumulation in some areas, winds south 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C with freezing levels to 1000 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with possible sun, 2 cm accumulation, winds southwest 15 km/h, treeline temperatures around -6 °C with freezing levels getting back up to 1200 m.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud, no accumulation, winds northeast 10 km/h, treeline temperatures -2 °C with freezing levels reaching 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
• Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
• Minimize your exposure time below cornices.
• The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.