Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 14th, 2016 6:24PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
grant statham,
Avalanche Canada
We're doing avalanche control on Tuesday on Mt. Bosworth, Mt. Field, Mt. Dennis and Mt. Whymper. Please no access to these areas.
Summary
Weather Forecast
A similar weather pattern for the next few days - on Tuesday expect overcast skies with light snow through the day, probably not accumulating more than 3-5cm. Temperatures will remain cool from -2 to -10 and relatively light winds. Excellent weather for quality tree skiing!
Snowpack Summary
30 - 40cm of recent, dry storm snow overlies a well settled mid and lower pack. This new snow has formed slabs that overlie several suncrusts on S and W aspects and may bond poorly in some areas. No significant shears found in the mid and lower pack, however thin snowpack areas are still suspect.
Avalanche Summary
Close call today. In the Simpson area (deeper snowpack) we were on a ridge crest and triggered a large cornice. This cornice dropped onto the slope below and triggered a 400m wide size 3 avalanche that ran for approximately 900m. The slab failed on a buried suncrust, and ranged from 50-100cm deep. Watch out for buried crusts with accumulated load!
Confidence
Problems
Wind Slabs
Over the past seven days we're received 45 cm of light snow, so it won't take much wind to create small pockets of drifted windslabs in areas on the leeward side of ridge crests at higher elevations.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
Now that the sun is higher in the sky, buried suncrust becomes more of a problem. Presently there are several crusts buried on S and W aspects, all with 50-100 cm overlying them. Dig, look and test these layers before committing to any solar slopes.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 15th, 2016 4:00PM
