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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 3rd, 2022–Feb 4th, 2022

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Sea To Sky.

Be very cautious around steep treeline features where triggering the current persistent slab problem is most likeley. 

Confidence

Low - Uncertainty is due to how the snowpack will react to the forecast weather. Uncertainty is due to the fact that persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

Weather Forecast

Thursday night: light snow and light to moderate west winds. Low of -4 at 1400m.

 

Friday: stormy weather with moderate to strong west winds in the alpine. 10 to 30cm of snow expected throughout the day. High of -2 at 1400m.

Saturday: light flurries with moderate northwest winds. Freezing level rising to 1400m.

Sunday: no new snow expected. Moderate southwest winds and freezing levels rising to 1600m.

Avalanche Summary

Over the past few days several skier triggered size 1 and 1.5 avalanches have been reported. We believe these avalanches have been failing on the same layer, a layer of facets on a crust from late January. 

On Tuesday, we received report of a large (size 2.5) human-triggered avalanche near Rainbow Mountain that caught and carried a group of five skiers. The avalanche released on a north aspect at 1900m. It broke 40 cm deep and ran on the late January facet-crust layer. The avalanche propagated across adjacent roll-over features and triggered a sympathetic slide on a small feature 200 m away.

Snowpack Summary

New snow accompanied by strong west winds will form new storm and wind slabs on Friday at all elevations.

A layer of facets on a crust is now buried down 30 to 50cm. This layer is widespread at treeline and has produced several human and remote triggered avalanches in the past few days. In sheltered terrain at treeline surface hoar can also be found on this layer.

Deeper in the snowpack, it is possible to find another crust layer buried down 100-200 cm with facets above it from December. This layer is most prominent between 1700-2100 m and is currently classified as dormant; although large loads such as a cornice failure or avalanches in motion may still be able to trigger avalanches on this layer.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of buried weak layers.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • Extra caution is needed around cornices under the current conditions.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.