Good skiing can be found in the alpine, but be aware of hidden wind slabs near the top of your line. Also, keep an eye on all of the other people above/below you. There are a lot of folks enjoying the Rogers Pass backcountry!
Weather Forecast
A benign forecast for the week. Mix of sun and cloud today with isolated flurries bringing trace amounts of snow. Winds should be light from the SW and freezing levels may rise to 1500m by the afternoon. More of the same throughout the rest of the week, with temp's dropping in the alpine to the mid minus-teen's by Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
Convective clouds and little wind the past 2 days have brought 10-15cm of new snow to the area. This has covered wind slabs at ridge-top elevations and a frozen, rain-soaked surface below tree-line. The biggest layers of concern are down 30-60cm, and are crusts on S aspects and surface hoar on sheltered N slopes.
Avalanche Summary
Several size 1.5-2 slabs from steep, N-facing terrain on Mt Macdonald were observed yesterday. Saturday, whumphing and cracking was observed in the alpine along shallow, wind-blown S/SW aspects at ridge-top.
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.
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.