Avalanche forecast

Sea To Sky

Feb 24 – 25, 2016Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Avoid travelling on or under any slopes getting the heat of the sun.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Wind slabs exist on many slopes. It may still be possible to trigger these with the weight of a person or snowmobile.

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–5
    Large cornices are looming. These could fail under the weight of a person, or on their own. A cornice fall can also trigger a large avalanche on the slope below.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Any slopes receiving direct sun may weaken and start to spill loose wet avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Thursday is expected to be cloudy and dry, with light southerly winds and the freezing level around 1800 m. On Friday, light snow begins in the afternoon, becoming moderate overnight and easing on Saturday (15-25 cm total). The freezing level is expected to fall towards 1400 m with this snow. Winds are light to moderate from the S-SW.

Avalanche Summary

Explosives-triggered cornice fall produced some large (size 2-3) avalanches yesterday. A few wind slabs were also triggered by skiers and naturally. In some areas affected by the sun, loose wet avalanches were observed.

Snowpack Summary

Cornices are large and weak. Recently formed storm slabs and wind slabs are generally settling, but may still be reactive to human triggers in specific terrain, and may be triggered by cornice fall. Slopes that receive direct sun are likely to develop a sun crust overnight and become moist and weak by day. Several crusts can be found in the upper metre of the snowpack. A layer of surface hoar buried in early January is down 1-2 m. In most places it is thought to be capped by a thick strong crust. It is becoming increasingly hard to make this layer fail in snowpack tests and triggering an avalanche on it is unlikely.

Regions covered