Spring is creeping up from the valley bottom into treeline and below treeline elevations, but winter conditions still exist in the alpine.
Solar input through the day will increase avalanche hazard, so plan to start and finish ski days early.
Soft snow and strong winds have created isolated pockets of wind slab in the high alpine. Assess for recent loading before committing to features.
A persistent weak layer of facets is down 80–120 cm and may still be triggerable by humans in shallow areas, and by large loads like collapsing cornices or wet loose avalanches. This problem exists on all aspects, but has been most active on solar slopes.
Slopes receiving direct sunlight can quickly warm up, even with cool air temperatures. Fresh snow sitting on top of a crust is likely to sluff.
A size 2 slab avalanche was observed below the Athabasca Silverhorn on Wednesday morning, and another size 2 persistent slab avalanche on the endless chain was observed on Thursday morning. The age is uncertain for both of these avalanches but likely occurred approximately 48 hours prior to observation. There was no icefields road patrol on Friday.
Fifteen centimeters of recent storm snow are sitting on preserved dry snow in the high North and is moist and settling on a variety of melt forms on solar slopes and at lower elevations. Below 2300m, multiple melt-freeze crusts are layered in the snowpack.
The January 24th layer is buried 80–120 cm deep and remains a lingering concern in the alpine. The lower snowpack is generally well consolidated in deeper areas, while shallow areas remain weaker and more faceted.
Saturday
A mix of sun and cloud.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: High -2 °C.
Ridge wind west: 10-20 km/h.
Freezing level: 2100 metres.
SundayCloudy with sunny periods.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: Low -4 °C, High 2 °C.
Ridge wind west: 15 km/h gusting to 40 km/h.
Freezing level: 2500 metres.
MondayA mix of sun and cloud with isolated showers.
Precipitation: Trace.
Alpine temperature: Low 1 °C, High 6 °C.
Ridge wind west: 15 km/h gusting to 45 km/h.
Freezing level: 2900 metres.
