The SPAW has been extended until March 7. Wind slab development will stress our persistent and deep persistent problems. Keep it conservative and avoid overhead hazard.
Strong winds that accompanied the +50cm storm have produced wind slabs in the alpine and treeline. Moderate - strong westerly wind throughout the week will continue to develop this problem
This problem layer is the crust and facets created by early February's warm spell. It is down 30-70 cm in the snowpack and is a 1-10 cm thick crust.
The base of the snowpack is inherently weak and untrustworthy. Tickling this deep layer would result in a high consequence avalanche. Any avalanche in the upper snowpack has the potential to step down to the base of the snowpack.
A widespread avalanche cycle occurred last week as a result of the Feb 29th storm. Natural avalanches up to size 3.5 have been observed in the Icefields/Parker Zone on all aspects in the alpine and the tree line running to the end of avalanche paths. Likewise avalanche control along the Icefields Parkway on Friday had several sympathetic avalanche releases from a single explosion.
No new avalanche activity observed on the Icefields Parkway or Malign Lake Road today.
Up to 50 cm of new snow fell during last weeks storm with strong winds, creating wind slabs. Wind slabs sit over a layer of faceted snow above a 1-3cm thick crust that is down 35-60 cm. The mid-pack is faceted with basal depth hoar and well developed facets near ground. HS ranges from 80 to 140cm.
The Mountain Weather Forecast is available at Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
The next three days will be cold with a mix of sun and cloud. Trace amounts of snow on Tuesday. Temps between -15 and -24°C. Ridge wind West 10 -30 km/h.
