Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 9th, 2023 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
CG,
Avalanche Canada
Soft wind slabs are present at immediate ridge top and their lee features.
Persistent weak layers may be triggered from shallow, rocky areas. 'Whumpfing' is a clue that you're tapping into these layers of concern.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No human-triggered nor natural avalanches have been reported in the last few days.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm of new snow has freshened up the surface. This sits on a settled, in some places wind-affected, upper snowpack.
The December 23rd facet interface is down ~60cm and appears to be gaining strength, but remains a concern in shallow snowpack areas.
The November 17th facet/crust/surface hoar layer is down ~100cm and has become less reactive in snowpack tests, though when it does fail it is 'sudden' in character.
Weather Summary
Isolated flurries continue to get burped over from the Pacific, but not amounting to much snow here.
Tues: sun and cloud, trace snow, Alp high -6*C, 1100m FZL, light SE winds
Wed: sun and cloud, Alp high -4*C, 1200m FZL, light to moderate S winds
Thurs: flurries, 10-15cm snow, Alp high -3*C, 1600m FZL, moderate SW winds
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
Problems
Wind Slabs
5-10cm of snow and moderate Southerly winds Sunday night into Monday formed fresh wind slab in the alpine and into the tree line. If triggered these wind slabs could step down to deeper instabilities.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
30-60cm of settled snow buries the Dec 23 facet interface. This layer will be a concern in thin rocky areas, on convex rolls, or in areas where the snowpack is unsupported.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
The Nov 17 layer, down 60-120cm, consists of facets, a rotting crust in some locations, and decomposing surface hoar. Though becoming less likely to trigger, the resulting avalanche would be quite destructive.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 10th, 2023 4:00PM
