Good skiing can be found close to treeline on sheltered north facing terrain as winter conditions persist. Evaluate specific terrain features before committing as we are in a low probability high consequence situation.
Weather Forecast
Friday will be flurries and 11 cm of snow, high -6 C, wind southwest 20 km/hr, freezing level 1700m. Saturday will bring flurries, 9cm of snow, low -7 C and high -5 C, Southwest winds 20km/hr gusting 50, freeing level 1800m. Sunday is forecast to be flurries, 10cm of snow, low -8 and high -2 C, light South winds, and freezing level 2100m.
Snowpack Summary
Wind slabs and wind effect is found in open areas treeline and above. The upper snowpack is a variable 25 to 80 cm thick slab that sits on weak FC crust layers in the mid-pack. Depth hoar persists near the ground.
Avalanche Summary
No patrol Thursday. Skiers released a cornice to test Ulr / terminator chute #5 Wednesday and released a healthy size 2 avalanche. See the MIN report. This is a steep N facing chute dropping into Whistler creek drainage from the backside of Marmot basin. Another group observed sz 2's 48 hours old in Bald hills zone on Wednesday.
Confidence
Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Friday
Problems
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.
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.