Assess for wind-affected snow before committing to consequential terrain.
Southerly winds have likely built wind slabs on lee terrain features. These slabs may be deeper and easier to trigger near ridgecrest and on convex rollovers. Watch for cross-loaded features.
Several wind slab avalanches (size 1 to 2) were triggered by skiers near Terrace on Thursday. These occurred up to 50 cm deep on north and east-facing slopes at treeline and were especially easy to trigger on convex rollovers.
A few small wind slab and loose dry avalanches were also observed in the north of the region on Thursday. The wind slabs were in alpine terrain on north-facing slopes.
Check out this MIN report describing conditions in the backcountry near Shames.
Storm totals since Wednesday may reach 20 to 50 cm by Saturday morning. Totals will be higher in the south and west of the region. Southerly winds have likely blown soft snow into deeper and touchier deposits in lee terrain features.
This snow overlies a melt-freeze crust below 1600 m.
The remainder of the snowpack is strong with various hard crusts.
Snow depths are highly variable throughout the region, ranging from 100 to 300 cm at treeline and tapering rapidly below.
Friday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm snow, south alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -5 ºC, freezing level 500 m.
Saturday
Mix of sun and cloud with trace snow, northwest alpine wind 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -7 ºC.
Sunday
A mix of sun and cloud with no precipitation, northwest alpine wind 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -6 ºC.
Monday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm snow, west alpine wind 30 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -5 ºC.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
