Kootenay Boundary

As the trees get thinner, start thinking about wind slabs and avoiding areas that have been loaded.

Start with small slopes and progress as you learn about the snow.

On Sunday near Nelson, there were a few small (size 1 to 1.5) storm and wind slabs triggered. Occurring at treeline on north to northeast aspects.

On Saturday, several small storm slab avalanches were reportedly triggered by riders as well as some large (size 2) explosive-triggered slabs.

In the Okanagan, there were also a few large natural wind slabs.

Up to 15 cm of new snow fell on Saturday accompanied by moderate to strong southwest wind forming larger deposits on north and east aspects. In sheltered terrain, this new snow could overlie weak surface hoar crystals.

A crust from freezing rain can be found down 20 to 40 cm. Where this crust is thin or not present a layer of surface hoar is possible.

The lower snowpack is well-settled, dense, and generally strong. Treeline snow depths range from 100 to 150 cm.

Monday Night

Cloudy with 1 cm of snow. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 20 to 50 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Thursday

Sunny with cloud increasing in the afternoon. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.