Avalanche Forecast

THURSDAY NIGHT: Light flurries with 5-10 cm of snow, moderate wind from the southwest, alpine high temperatures drop to -15 C.

FRIDAY: Cloudy with a few light flurries, moderate wind from the southwest, alpine high temperatures around -10 C.

SATURDAY: Light flurries with 5-10 cm of snow, moderate wind from the south, alpine high temperatures around -8 C.

SUNDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, moderate wind from the south, alpine high temperatures around -5 C.

Recent weather has refreshed the wind slab problem on north and east lee features. Wind slabs have been the story the past few days, with many small (size 1) wind slabs being triggered by riders on all aspects and elevations. A few larger (size 2) naturally triggered wind slabs have also been observed in the alpine. Persistent slab activity has tapered off, although there have been occasional reports of large (size 3) explosive triggered avalanches in alpine terrain (1-2 per week).

Fresh wind slabs can be found in open terrain, while soft powder exists in sheltered terrain. A thin crust can be found 50-100 cm below the surface in many areas, and beneath that is a layer of surface hoar that is roughly 80-120 cm deep in the Selkirks and 120-160 cm deep in the Monashees. A facet/crust layer from late November lingers near the bottom of the snowpack. These layers appear to be unreactive under the current conditions, but could reappear as problems in the future.

• Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.