Avoid "thick to thin" areas near ridge tops where triggering avalanches will be more likely.
Wind slab can still be found in exposed terrain in treeline and above. Sensitivity to triggering will be greatest where wind slab overlies the early December facet/crust combo.
Use extra caution in "thick to thin" areas where the likelihood of triggering this layer is greater.
Wednesday night: light flurries with light south wind. low of -9 at 1700m.
Thursday: some light flurries with a high of -8 at 1700m. Winds becoming light to moderate from the Northwest in the afternoon.
Friday: no new snow with moderate Northwest winds and a high of -13 at 1700m.
Saturday: A storm arrives bringing up to 15cm of new snow and strong Southwest winds. High of -6 at 1700m.
No new avalanches were observed in the region but a size 1.5 skier accidental was observed in a part of the South Columbia region that has similar snowpack conditions to the Kootenay boundary. This avalanche failed on the facets above the early December crust which was down 35cm on a North aspect at 2200m.
10cm of low density snow overlies old variably wind effected surfaces.
The defining feature of the snowpack is a widespread crust that now sits 30-70 cm below the surface. In many places overlying snow is well-bonded to the crust but in others, including Kootenay Pass, weak faceted grains have been observed growing above it around treeline.
Snow depths are roughly 140-180 cm at treeline throughout the region.
