Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
The snow is heavily wind-affected at all elevations. Stick to sheltered trees to find the best and safest riding.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
A fairly benign weather pattern expected for Wednesday and Thursday with some new snow on Friday.Wednesday/ Thursday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Alpine temperatures will see a high of -14 with light northeast winds. Friday: Overcast with flurries and an alpine high of -11. New snow amounts 5-10 cm with ridgetop winds generally light from the west but gusting up to 50 km/hr.
Avalanche Summary
Wind had been the name of the game. On Monday, several skier triggered wind slabs up to size 1 were reported. One failed down 20 cm, running on a buried crust on a steep convex terrain feature. This was on a SE aspect at 1800 m. The other was on a NW-N aspect at 2000 m and triggered from a wind loaded pocket. With little change in the weather forecast natural avalanche activity will subside, but human triggers remain possible.The region has not seen a persistent slab avalanche report in over a week, and with the fairly benign weather pattern I don't expect them to fail by natural cause. Although the likelihood of triggering a persistent slab is gradually decreasing, the consequences remain high.
Snowpack Summary
Strong and gusty wind from various directions (primarily northeast) has scoured some exposed slopes and formed fresh wind slabs on others. Sheltered terrain, especially in the trees has 30-50 cm of low density snow from last weekend's storm. A crust layer can be found beneath the storm snow on sun-exposed slopes and below 1800 m.Weak layers that formed in January and December are gradually gaining strength. The layers include several surface hoar and facet layers buried 1-2 m below the surface. No avalanches have been reported on these layers for the past week and snowpack tests are showing improved bonding. Despite these signs, avalanche professionals are still treating these layers with respect and being cautious around shallow start zones and big avalanche paths.
Problems
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.