Weather Forecast
Monday: Dry and bright. Treeline temps around -8C. An inversion will push alpine temps to around -2C. Moderate northwesterly winds. Tuesday: Light snow – around 3cm with strong northwesterly winds. Alpine temps falling to -12C by the end of the day. Wednesday: Flurries. Light to moderate northerly winds. Alpine temps around -18C.
Avalanche Summary
Small point releases to size 1 were noted from an area east of Hwy 43 in steep terrain. Recent reports of riders triggering small wind slabs on NE aspects around 2100 m are now a few days old, but still valid, given the recent wind event.
Snowpack Summary
A significant wind event on Saturday redistributed snow, scouring west-facing slopes and depositing highly variable wind slabs on east-facing slopes. A buried layer of surface hoar lies approximately 20 cm below the snow surface. Reports indicate this layer was blown around before it was buried and can only be found in isolated, sheltered locations. A well settled mid pack bridges over the basal weaknesses at the ground. The crust/facet combo still exists at the ground. This layer was responsible for some large releases earlier on in the season. However, there hasn't been any activity on this layer since early December and confidence is growing that it is gaining strength.
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.