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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 25th, 2018–Dec 26th, 2018

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Glacier.

Merry Christmas! Persistent weak layers require a conservative mind set when choosing where to skin up and ski down.

Weather Forecast

A mix of sun and cloud with a trace of snow and alpine high of -10C and light winds. Continued cool with light winds and isolated flurries through Thursday. Freezing level should remain at valley bottom.

Snowpack Summary

60cm of settled storm snow from last week. Pockets of wind slab may be lingering in lee features and cross loads in the alpine and open tree line areas. The Dec 9 and Nov 21 persistent weak layers are down ~100-120cm and still producing Hard and Sudden test results.

Avalanche Summary

Several size 2.5 - 3 natural avalanches observed on Dec 23 mainly from extreme terrain. A widespread avalanche cycle, sz 2 - 3.5 occurred Friday morning with the strong/extreme SW winds. A large sz 3.5 avalanche from Grizzly Peak / Dispatchers Bowl that traveled over 2km from the alpine to valley bottom buried 80m of the Connaught Creek skin track.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.