Avalanche Forecast

Thursday, skiers triggered several storm slabs failing on a crust at treeline and below in the McGregors and northern Cariboos. A large (size 2) naturally triggered wind slab was also observed in the alpine at Pine Pass.

Wednesday, a size 2.5 wind slab failing on a crust near ridgetop occurred in McGregors. Several smaller but similar wind slabs were triggered by riders in the same area on Tuesday.

Looking forward, we expect storm slabs to remain reactive to human triggers.

Up to 40 cm of snow from the last storm combined with moderate to strong westerly winds built reactive storm slabs in the region. The most snow fell in the northern and central parts of the region, with less in the Barkerville, McBride and Kakwa areas.

The new snow is covering a variety of surfaces that may take a while to bond. These include old wind-affected snow, hard crusts, facets, and surface hoar.

We continue to track early January and early December surface hoar and crust layers down 30 to 60 cm and 80 to 150 cm, respectively. Both are considered unlikely to trigger.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Saturday

A mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7°C.

Sunday

Mostly sunny. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C, inversion.

Monday

Sunny. 50 to 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C, inversion breaking down.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Start with conservative terrain and watch for signs of instability.
• Keep your guard up as storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
• Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
• Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to buried surface hoar.