Choose simple terrain that is well supported. A buried unstable surface hoar layer was found at Parkers Ridge on a South aspect at treeline sitting on a crust.
Weather Forecast
Thursday night will be -20, flurries, and light E to SE winds. Friday - Sunday will be highs of -5 at the Icefields and flurries. Winds will increase Westerly 26km/hr on Friday then decrease to light Westerlies Saturday-Sunday.
Snowpack Summary
March 3rd's 45cm of storm snow has settled into a 30cm soft slab at treeline and above. It is testing as a resistant planar fracture characteristic. The lower snowpack is weak with depth hoar and a November rain crust. S aspect at Parker's there is a Surface hoar layer on a sun crust down 30cm testing unstable sudden planar fracture characteristic.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new was noted with good visibility on Thursday's patrol town to Churchill slide path. No whumphing or cracking in the area but stayed near the trees. Skiers on March 7 in Bald hills triggered a size 2 from a km away. Report and pictures can be viewed on CAA's Mountain Information Network.
Confidence
Freezing levels 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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.