Northwest winds may form wind slabs in areas that are usually more windward, which could catch riders off guard.
Seek out sheltered terrain where you can avoid these wind slabs and find great riding.
Saturday's storm brought 20-40cm of new snow to the region. Overnight northwest winds will continue to redistribute this new snow into wind slabs in the alpine and treeline. The northerly component to winds may create loading in areas that are not commonly loaded. Continued southwest wind throughout the day today will transport available snow into fresh, reactive wind slabs in the alpine and treeline.
A layer of weak facets (sugary snow) can be found down 50-100 cm over a crust that formed in early December. This layer is starting to produce avalanches across the province and as we assess the additional load on this layer from the storm, it will be critical to employ good travel habits and diligent decision making.
At the base of the snowpack above 2200 m, a layer of depth hoar lingers. Avalanches-in-motion have the potential to step down to this layer.
Monday Overnight: Mainly clear with moderate to strong northwest winds at ridgetop. Alpine temperatures around -15 C, rising to around -12C into the morning.
Tuesday: Partially cloud with northwest winds shifting to the southwest in the morning. Alpine temperatures around -10 C with no new snow.
Wednesday: Cloudy with 5-15 cm of new snow throughout the day. Moderate to strong southwest winds at ridgetop with freezing levels rising to around 500m. Continued snowfall overnight with another 10-20 cm of accumulation expected.
Thursday: Snowfall continuing into the morning, another 3-15 cm of accumulation with higher values in the south of the region. Winds easing light to moderate and shifting to the northwest during the day. Temperatures dropping to -12 C in the alpine.
On Sunday, operators reported ski cutting and explosive storm slab results to size 1 in the alpine and treeline.
Saturday's storm brought 20-50cm of new snow to the region. This new snow was accompanied by moderate to strong southwest winds which have formed wind slabs in the alpine and treeline. Overnight, northwest winds will have redistributed snow available for transport into wind slabs in the alpine and treeline. The northerly component to winds will potentially creating loading in more atypical areas at higher elevations.
Below this new snow, 40-60cm of consolidated snow sits over a substantial crust that formed in early December. This crust is 10-30 cm thick and can be found down 60-120 cm. It is present across aspects below 2300m. A thin layer of weak facets (sugary snow) can found above this crust that has demonstrated reactivity in snowpack tests. This problem is particularly hard to predict and tricky to manage. For this reason wide, conservative terrain margins and disciplined backcountry travel techniques will be very important. Get more details and photos in our forecaster blog.
A late October facet/crust layer of concern sits at the bottom of the snowpack above 1900m. Although this layer has been trending less reactive, it remains on our radar.
The snowpack depth at treeline is around 115-200 cm. The deepest snowpack can be found near the Bugaboos.
