Glide cracks present a local hazard on steep rock slabs, particularly in the Coquihalla.
Weather Forecast
Monday: Mainly sunny conditions, with light northerly winds. Freezing level around 1300 m. Tuesday: Sunny in the morning, becoming increasingly cloudy later on with the possibility of some light snow late in the day. Winds backing southwesterly. Freezing level around 900 m. Wednesday: Mostly dry and bright. Freezing level around 800 m.
Avalanche Summary
Glide crack activity up to size 2.5 has been reported recently in the Coquilhalla at treeline and below. Glide cracks are hard to predict, avoid riding in terrain below them. No other avalanche activity has been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Warm temperatures led to moist snow below treeline, which has now frozen in many areas giving a crust. A skiff of snow has buried an assortment of old snow surfaces comprising, depending on location, crusts, old wind slab, surface hoar and surface facets. The crusts formed on all aspects at lower elevations and on steep solar aspects higher up. Old wind slabs were on a variety of aspects behind exposed terrain features, and were particularly prominent in the Coquihalla due to outflow winds. The surface hoar (5-10mm) was most prominent at and above the recent cloud associated with inversion conditions. Surface facets have grown particularly on northern aspects where colder temperatures have persisted. In general the snowpack is now well bonded in most locations.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.