Isolated reactive wind slabs may still be triggered by a skier.
Carefully assess steep slopes in alpine terrain and near treeline before committing.
Be especially vigilant on slopes showing recent signs of wind loading.
In alpine terrain and at treeline, wind slabs 20–50 cm thick may still react to the passage of a skier. The wind slabs formed below convexities, terrain breaks, beneath ridgelines, and in areas of cross-loading at treeline. The wind slabs are gradually stabilizing.
No new avalanches reported or observed.
If you head into the backcountry, thanks for sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
In the alpine and at the tree line, snow cover varies greatly from place to place: the western slopes are mostly bare, while the other slopes have a mix of hard snow and pockets of softer wind slabs.
In areas protected from the wind, 20 to 25 cm of powder snow covers a gradually denser snowpack up to a crust formed on December 20. Under this crust, there is depth hoar and faceted grains.
A thin, brittle layer of rime ice formed at the beginning of the week is now found on the surface east of our forecast area. It does not affect ski quality. In addition, a thin, brittle sun crust is observed on steep south- and southwest-facing slopes.
The average snowpack depth at mid-mountain is approximately 120 cm.
WEATHER FOR THE CHIC-CHOCS RIDGES AND PEAKS
Influence of a weak low pressure system bringing cloudy skies, fairly cold temperatures, and light snow.
Wednesday evening and night: Cloudy. Light wind from the southwest. Low -15.
Thursday: Intermittent snow, accumulation of 2 to 3 cm. Wind from the northwest at 10 to 25 km/h. High -14 °C.
Friday: Sunny. Wind from the south 10 to 20 km/h. High -13°C.
Saturday: Cloudy. Wind from the north 10 to 20 km/h. High -15.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine weather forecast.
