Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Regions
Glacier.
Sunny skies and prolonged solar radiation could take a toll on the snowpack, weakening cornices and southerly facing aspects. Conservative terrain choices are appropriate for the day.
Weather Forecast
Don't forget to 'slip, slap, slop' your florescent green zinc sun screen on, as today will bring prolonged periods of sun with some cloudy periods. No snow in the forecast, temps ranging from -7 to -15 with 15-30km/hr westerly winds. Snow starting late this evening with 10-15cm by Saturday night with cold temps for Sunday into next week.
Snowpack Summary
7cm of snow overnight, 40cm in the past two days brings to height of snow to 335cm at 1900m. Previous southerly winds have created pockets of wind slab in the alpine and exposed tree line areas which is now covered by a thin layer of snow. Persistent weak layers are now buried 150-200cm and a sun crust on steep solar aspects is down 30-50cm.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous avalanches observed yesterday along highway corridor up to size 3.0.Three days ago a group ascending MacDonald West Shoulder #4 remotely trigger a size 3.0 into NRC Gully from 10m away, the dust cloud settled within a few hundred meters of the highway. No one was involved in the avalanche.
Confidence
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.