Choose mellow terrain, and give the recent snow time to settle and bond with the rest of the snowpack.
Weather has varied around the region, so verify conditions in your area.
The recent snow will remain most reactive where it sits on weak layers buried in late December and early January. Expect deeper and more reactive slabs on leeward slopes.
On Friday, northwest of Monkman Provincial Park, there was a widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 3 in the overnight storm snow.
Also, 25-45 cm of heavy snow, storm slab avalanches, and wind loading was reported in the Hasler area, near Pine Pass.
Additionally, northwest of McBride, a small, remote triggered wind slab avalanche was reported, failing on surface hoar in north facing, treeline terrain.
Moderate northwest winds may continue to form deeper, more reactive pockets of snow in leeward terrain.
40 to 60 cm of settling storm snow is resting on a mix of surfaces formed in late December or early January, including surface hoar, crusts, and facets. In some places these layers produced avalanches during the stormy period Thursday and Friday. It is possible that these layers cause upper snowpack avalanche problems to persist a bit longer than normal.
The middle and lower snowpack are generally strong and well settled.
Saturday Night
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with 2 cm of snow. Possible hotspots of 5 cm or more. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Monday
Partly cloudy. 50 to 80 km/h west ridgetop wind. Possible temperature inversion above 1500 m. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 70 to 90 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1500 m. Treeline temperature 0 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
