Don't let the break in the storm lure you into consequential terrain.
Wind slabs exist, with the potential to propagate far and wide due to buried crusts.
Reactive wind slabs are expected to exist at all elevations where the storm delivered snow. Watch for corniced slopes.
These slabs may be poorly bonded to a series of buried crusts, creating the potential for very large avalanches.
Thursday, natural storm slab activity continued, with size 2 avalanches reported at treeline, as well as one size 1 remotely triggered by riders from ridgetop above the S2S Gondola.
Monday, a very large (size 3) avalanche was triggered by skiers west of Pemberton. It failed on a rain crust buried 50 to 150 cm deep on a wind-loaded north-facing alpine slope. Several explosive, natural, and human-triggered avalanches were also reported across the region, up to size 2.5.
Recent storm snow accompanied by strong to extreme southerly winds has likely built reactive cornices and deep and reactive slabs on lee slopes. The storm snow may be poorly bonded to an underlying crust, and could result in very large avalanches like the one described in the avalanche summary.
Another buried crust with facets from early December is buried 90 to 160 cm deep at treeline. A layer of surface hoar may also be present in sheltered areas at this same depth.
Thursday NightCloudy with trace precipitation. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
FridayPartly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Saturday
5 to 20 cm in the overnight period. Cloudy with another 10 to 20 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with up to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
