Although avalanche danger has decreased post-storm, take a cautious approach and gather your own snow pack information before committing to exposed terrain.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Temperatures should stay cooler through the weekend, with a freezing level dropping to around 700 m. Any remaining snow flurries on Saturday should taper off by Sunday. Winds become light for the weekend.
Avalanche Summary
A natural cycle up to size 3 was observed throughout the recent storm. These included wind slabs and storm slabs, primarily at alpine elevations; and loose wet and wet slab avalanches at treeline and below. Some of these events failed on a crust /facet layer buried in late November and were more than 1 metre deep. On Thursday night a slab failed in terrain that had previously been controlled with explosives, 1.5-2m deep, with good propagation. Check the Whistler-Blackcomb avalanche advisory for more details.
Snowpack Summary
The recent prolonged storm dropped 100-200mm of water, with fluctuating freezing levels bringing rain at times to alpine elevations. Snow also accumulated above treeline, leading to deep wind slabs. Now the storm is over, storm slabs and wind slabs are likely to remain problematic for a day or two. However, my bigger concern is a buried crust/facet layer which formed in November and is now down 1-2m. This has woken up with storm snow loading and has the potential for deep slabs and wide propagations, and does not inspire huge confidence.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.