The best riding right now is probably on high north aspects, which is also where the hazard is the highest. Don't let your guard down when searching for fresh powder.
Confidence
Moderate - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
We're into a fairly stable weather pattern: seasonal temperatures and isolated flurries.MONDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, local accumulations to 5cm, light to moderate southwesterly winds and freezing levels around 1400 m.TUESDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with light snow flurries starting in the afternoon (5-15cm), light winds and freezing levels around 1300 m.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with light flurries (5-10cm), light southerly winds and freezing levels around 1100 m.
Avalanche Summary
A couple of skier-triggered wind slab avalanches (to Size 1.5) were reported on steeper (38 degree) north or northwest aspect slopes near 2100m on Saturday. There was also a natural wind slab (Size 2.0) reported on a steep easterly feature near ridge crest at 2200m in the Monashees. Wind slabs at higher elevations are sensitive to light triggers and have the potential to step down and trigger persistent slab avalanches.
Snowpack Summary
We've had minor snowfall amounts (5-20cm) over the weekend with moderate southeasterly winds in some locations. Expect to find 25-40 cm of more recent snow bonding slowly to buried surface hoar and/or a crust, and blown into touchy wind slabs at higher elevations. Below 1500m a frozen rain crust is mostly supportive, but up to 1800m it can be breakable. Storm snow from last week is still bonding poorly to the previous snow surface from early February, which is now down 60-80 cm and includes a sun crust on steep sun-exposed slopes, faceted snow, as well as surface hoar on sheltered open slopes. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and stable in deeper snowpack areas but may be faceted and weaker in shallower areas.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.