Forecasts for snow amounts on Sunday vary, but moderate SW ridgetop winds continue. If more snow falls than expected, the alpine hazard may increase to considerable, and we may start to see sluffing in steep terrain.
There is good skiing in sheltered areas, and the new snow will only improve this!
Previous winds have created wind slabs in the alpine. and isolated treeline areas. Watch for these as you transition into wind-affected terrain and lee features. If new snowfall amounts reach the high end of forecasted amounts, watch for new wind slab development in steep lee areas.
The natural avalanche cycle on the deep facet layers has ended, but concern about human-triggered avalanches persists. We continue to see occasional large avalanches on these layers with explosives, usually in shallow areas where the snowpack goes from thin to thick.
Limited obs on Saturday, but no new natural avalanches reported or observed.
Lake Louise and Sunshine ski hills did some explosive control on Friday. They mainly got no result or size 1 wind slabs. Sunshine did get a remote size 2.5 deep persistent slab near the ground, which started 70 m below where the explosion occurred. No other avalanches were reported in this region.
A few cms of new snow with moderate SW alpine winds now sits over previous surfaces, which include older windslabs, surface hoar to treeline, and some suncrust on steep solar aspects.
There is 40-80 cm over the Dec 15 melt-freeze crust, which is present to 1800-2000 m, and 80-160 cm over the November facet/crust interfaces. In thinner snowpack areas, facets are present at the base.
Treeline snow depths range from 100-200+ cm.
Saturday night: Moderate SW ridgetop winds with 1 to 5 cm of snow depending on the forecast. Treeline temps remain near -4°C
Sunday: Light to moderate SW ridgetop winds, with between 1 and 10 cm of new snow depending on the forecast, and treeline temps steady near -4°C.
