South Columbia

Seek the shade for the best and safest riding.

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

We'll see little change in the weather pattern: valley cloud and cool temperatures down low but sunny and warm up high. SUNDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks. Light to moderate south-west winds. Freezing level near 1700 m.MONDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods. Light wind. Freezing level near 1500m with an above freezing layer at 3000 m. Alpine high temperatures near +3.TUESDAY: Sunny with increasing cloud in the afternoon. Light wind. Freezing level near 2000 m with a colder air layer in the valleys.

On Friday, a Size 2 dry loose avalanche was reported at 2300m on a south east aspect near Rogers Pass. A size 3 slab failed at ground near Revelstoke on a sunny aspect at treeline last week. Check out the report here. On Tuesday, a size 3 natural avalanche was reported on a steep north-facing alpine face in the Selkirks. The failure layer is unknown, but it was likely an early season crust. There have been other, old large avalanches spotted on high, north east facing slopes just below ridge crests on Youngs Peak and also Hassler Peak.

Warming temperatures will melt and weaken upper snowpack layers, on isolated steep sunny slopes. Warming also has the potential to wake up more deeply buried crust layers which formed during November's rainfall. On the whole, these crusts have been showing reasonable bonding in snowpack and slope tests. Isolated wind slabs may still be found behind ridges and ribs. Below treeline, the snowpack is shallow--look out for early season hazards like open creeks and tree stumps.