Hazard is generally low; however, give cornices respect when travelling in the alpine. They are a stand-alone hazard but could also be a potential trigger for deep slabs.
Weather Forecast
We should see a couple more days of mainly cloudy skies with light flurries before the ridge of high pressure rebuilds returning the province to sunny conditions by late Saturday or Sunday. The freezing level is around 1500 m on Friday and lowers to just under 1000 m on the weekend. Winds are light gusting to moderate from the NW on Friday and switch to north-easterly for the weekend.
Avalanche Summary
Over the past several days there have been reports of natural and explosive triggered slabs and cornice falls to size 3. Almost all of these slides occurred on high alpine slopes with cornice related activity being specific to NE-E slopes below ridges. On Tuesday there were also reports of fresh wind slabs (10-20 cm thick) being reactive to skier traffic.
Snowpack Summary
Expect to find surface crusts on solar aspects and all aspects to at least 2000 m. At alpine elevations, thin new wind slabs or storm slabs may be found and cornices are large and weak. Underneath newly formed near-surface crusts, you may find moist snow. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer is 1-2 m deep in the west, and can be found within the upper metre of the snowpack further east. It is variably reactive and still the main concern in many areas. The mid-January surface hoar, deeper again, remains problematic in some areas. The mid-December and mid-November weak layers of crusts and facets can still be found near the bottom of the snowpack, particularly in shallower eastern parts of the Purcells.
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.