With the moderate to strong winds, the wind slabs continue to form. Those of the last few days are piling up, to form an interface showing several signs of instability.
Take the time to carefully assess your line if you are entering wind affected terrain, and be prepared to adjust your plan.
Isolated wind slabs are found on leeward slopes and on cross loaded features of the alpine and the treeline. They may rest on old slabs, or on the January 18th crust.
With the cold temperatures, facetted grains developed on and under the January 18 ice crust. We have been getting regular test results showing avalanche triggering potential for the past few days. As with any persistent slab problem, the problem is very sporadic, almost isolated and the spatial variability is significant. It is therefore possible to test a few meters away and get a completely different results on this crust. The probabilities of triggering are low, but the consequences could be very unfortunate. The problem seems to be a little more important at the treeline, where the snowpack is thinner, near natural obstacles, such as trees or rocks.
On the Albert area, yesterday, several avalanches were reported on the north and northeast slopes. They all released within an interface of overlying wind slab, from the previous couple of days. See the MIN for more information.
Three natural avalanches of size 0.5 to 1.
One size 2 avalanche was accidentally triggered by a skier.
Our team ski cutted a size 1.5.
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Little changes from yesterday. In areas sheltered from the wind, we find 15 to 20 cm of very light snow that rests either on the January 18 crust or on 20 to 50 cm of slightly heavier snow that rests on the January 18 crust. The best conditions are found below the treeline and in the lower treeline.In the alpine and at the treeline, the surface is ranging from soft slabs on the surface, to wind-affected snow, to crust, to rock.Facetted grains have developed on and under the January 18 crust, with more and more test results showing reactivity on this crustThe bottom of the snowpack is composed of a laminate of decomposing crusts and facetted grains. In general, the height of the snowpack varies from 60 to 80 cm in the valley to 100 to 140 cm at mid-mountain.
Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits.
Synopsis: An intense Arctic cold front approaches on Thursday night, leaving extremely cold temperatures and intense winds for the next few days.
Thursday night and overnight: Cloudy. 5-10 cm of snow. Winds from the southwest from 45 to 65 km/h. Min -20C.
Friday: Clearing in the morning. 1-2 cm of snow. Winds from the southwest shifting to northwest around 60 km/h. High -30C.
Saturday: Alternating sun and clouds. 1-2 cm of snow. Winds from the northwest from 90 to 130 km/h. High -25C.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. 2-3 cm of snow. Winds from the southwest around 75 km/h easing off to 50 km/h at midday. High -20C.
For more details, check the Alpine Weather Forecast.
