Beware of wind-loaded and sun-exposed slopes where the recent storm snow has settled into touchy slabs.
Confidence
Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud for Saturday with moderate northwesterly winds and alpine temperatures around -10. Sunday should be mainly cloudy with flurries bringing around 5 cm of fresh snow by the afternoon. Ridgetop winds are expected to increase to moderate to strong westerlies and alpine temperatures around -10. Expect to wake up Monday morning with 10-15 cm of fresh snow in the mountains with an additional 5-10 cm throughout the day all falling under strong southwesterly winds. Freezing levels are expected to rise as high as 1200 m by Monday afternoon.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday or Thursday. Reports from Tuesday are limited to isolated small sluffs in steep terrain in response to riders and sun-exposure.
Snowpack Summary
Around 20-40 cm of low density faceted powder overlies the previous variable snow surface from late last week, which includes hard wind pressed or scoured areas, old wind slabs, weak faceted snow, or small surface hoar. The cold temperatures appear to be preserving the old (now buried) wind slabs from the end of last week and they still may be reactive to human triggering in isolated areas. Recent snowpack tests near Whistler gave hard but sudden results in faceted snow under the old hard wind slab. Moderate southwest winds over the weekend and more recent northerly winds have formed soft wind slabs in immediate leeward features. The widespread mid-November crust is typically down 1-2m in the snowpack. Recent snowpack and explosive tests have shown the crust to be unreactive, but it could remain a problem in shallow alpine start zones.
Problems
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.