Wind slabs remain the primary avalanche concern. Wind and new snow on Sunday created wind slabs at upper elevations that are still possible to trigger. Though small in size, these slabs could pose serious consequences if triggered in the wrong terrain.
Not much snow at the lower levels of treeline or below; it is Early Season!
A bit of new snow (5-10 cm) and consistent, strong S-SW winds over the past 48 hours have created wind slabs in the alpine and at treeline. We expect it will be possible to trigger these slabs in lee loaded areas. There is also concern for these to step down to the buried crust layers in the snowpack.
Local ski hills were able to trigger wind slabs as well as slabs on the basal crust from size 1-1.5 with explosives on Monday.
On Sunday local ski hills reported several small windslabs and a recreational party reported a remotely triggered wind slab while ascending a couloir near Bow Summit.
Our field team reported numerous whumpfs while touring in the Sunshine area on Monday. These are likely failing on one of the buried crusts in the snowpack.
A few cms of snow over previous wind slabs in exposed alpine and treeline terrain. In the middle of the snowpack the Nov 9 solar/temp crust is present. In some places there is surface hoar on this crust making it more reactive to loading. At the base of the snowpack a crust that formed in late October can be found to ridgetop. Facets are developing around this basal crust. Treeline snow depths range from 40-60 cm with less snow at lower elevations and many thinly buried hazards.
A mix of sun and cloud with no new snow on Tuesday and only a few cm's expected on Wednesday. Winds remain light from the SW on Tuesday until late in the afternoon when they increase to the moderate-strong range from the south. A cooling trend continues, with forecast lows reaching -20°C in the alpine.
