Storm slabs on steep slopes, wind slabs on lee slopes and a persistent slab that seems to be "waking up". Lots to manage but also lots of good snow to ride! WInd protected areas are your best bet.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Low pressure off the coast is drifting south, which sets the stage for colder drier Alberta air to slide into the forecast region.THURSDAY: Flurries or light snow. Light to Moderate east or southeast wind. Treeline temperatures around -5 to -10 CFRIDAY: Flurries. Northeast winds dropping to light during the day. Temperatures around -10 C.SATURDAY: Similar to Friday but more sun and a few degrees cooler.
Avalanche Summary
Most operations reported "no new avalanches". Recent avalanche activity has consisted of mainly loose dry in the size 1-1.5 range but also some wind slabs to size 2 in alpine terrain. These were either naturally occurring or intentionally triggered. Deep persistent avalanche activity has become less frequent over the past week.
Snowpack Summary
Around 60 cm of recent storm snow is being redistributed into slabs in wind-exposed terrain. Below this is a layer buried mid-February that presents as a sun crust on solar aspects, and spotty surface hoar on sheltered slopes. This layer looks most concerning on on solar aspects where it's associated with with small facets or surface hoar above.There are several deeper layers in the mid-pack that have shown signs of improving but remain on the radar as low probability - high consequence avalanche problems. I'm talking about surface hoar layer buried back in December and January. Near the base of the snowpack is a November crust combined with loose sugary snow. These layers may "wake-up" with strong inputs such as sustained warming, sustained snowfall, large triggers (e.g. cornice fall, smaller avalanches coming down from above); human triggering is also possible in shallow snowpack areas with variable snow depth and convoluted terrain.
istorm,
Avalanche Canada
