Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 7th, 2018 4:35PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Persistent Slabs.

Avalanche Canada shorton, Avalanche Canada

Cold and dry conditions continue with no change in the foreseeable future.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy, moderate wind out of the west, alpine temperatures drop to -16 C.SATURDAY: Local valley cloud, alpine high temperatures around -10 C, light wind out of the west, light flurries possible overnight into Sunday.SUNDAY: Scattered cloud cover, alpine high temperatures around -6 C, moderate to strong wind out of the southwest.MONDAY: Cloudy, alpine high temperatures around -4 C, strong wind out of the west.

Avalanche Summary

Recent avalanche activity has been limited to a few small wind slabs and loose dry avalanches mostly in steep alpine terrain.The last notable avalanche reported was a size 2 human triggered avalanche on Sunday in Cornice Bowl north of Fernie. It occurred on a northwest facing feature at 2300 m and ran on a crust in the lower snowpack. There are good photos in this MIN report.If you're in the backcountry and have observations to share, please post to the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 100 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts.The main concern is the snowpack is a combination of weak sugary snow and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report here for a visual representation of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

An icon showing Persistent Slabs
Triggering a persistent slab avalanche may be possible on the weak sugary snow in the bottom half of the snowpack.
Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.Back off if you encounter signs of instability like whumphing, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.Use caution on open slopes and convex rolls

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Dec 8th, 2018 2:00PM