Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear. Alpine temperatures near -5C. Ridgetop winds 25-40 km/h from the east.THURSDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine temperature near -3C, freezing level around 800 m. Ridgetop winds 15-25 km/h from the northeast.FRIDAY: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm accumulation. Alpine high temperatures near -8C. Ridgetop winds 15-20 km/h from the east.SATURDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine temperatures near -14C. Ridgetop winds 25-35 km/h from the east-northeast.

On Tuesday, a group of skiers triggered a small (size 1.5) avalanche in steep terrain on a west aspect, notable as it occurred below treeline. Loose, dry snow was sloughing on solar aspects on Tuesday afternoon.On Monday, a group of skiers remotely triggered a size 2.5 wind slab avalanche from 300 m away. The avalanche failed on a west aspect around 1600 m with a 50 cm crown. On Sunday, several small (size 1) avalanches were triggered by skiers descending in adjacent terrain on west to south alpine features. Similarly, a touchy and reactive snowpack was reported on the MIN around the Shames backcountry on Sunday documenting skier-triggered wind slab avalanches size 1-1.5 on south-southeast aspects (See one report here).On Saturday, while traversing a bench feature skiers north of Terrace remotely triggered 3 small (size 1) storm slab avalanches in steep terrain. A helicopter also remotely triggered a larger size 2 storm slab avalanche. The Saturday avalanches occurred in similar steep terrain on west to north aspects around 1300 m and failed 30-50 cm deep on the recently buried surface hoar layer.

Strong outflow winds have reshaped alpine and exposed treeline areas, ridgetops are wind-pressed with variable wind slabs in lee terrain. In sheltered terrain, loose snow is faceting with possible surface hoar growth. A thin sun crust has developed on solar aspects.In most areas, the 20-50 cm wind-affected snow collectively overlies hard, previously wind affected surfaces or crust on solar aspects. In selective sheltered areas, lower density snow overlies facets and/or spotty surface hoar. In the south of the region, the remainder of the snowpack is well-settled. Around Bear Pass and in the north of the region, you may find two weak layers of surface hoar buried between 50 and 100 cm. The base of the snowpack may also be composed of weak and sugary faceted snow.