Wind slabs at upper elevations remain the primary concern. They may be easily triggered due to a weak bond with underlying surfaces.
10 to 20 cm of new snow accompanied by strong wind will likely form fresh wind slabs on Friday. Sensitivity could be greater in areas where storm and wind slab has formed over a crust, facets, or surface hoar.
The mid-January surface hoar layer is a developing problem that could start to produce more avalanches in the future with increased load and slab development above. Use extra caution in sheltered terrain at treeline where preserved surface hoar is more likely to exist.
The early January facet layer is now down as deep as 80cm and might require a large load such as a cornice fall or a smaller avalanche in the layers above in order to be triggered. This problem is likely most concerning on high north and east facing terrain.
Thursday night: 5-10 cm new snow. Strong SW wind. Freezing levels rising to 500 m.
Friday: 5-10 cm new snow. Strong SW wind. Freezing level rising to 1300 m near Smithers, around 500 m north of Kispiox.
Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud. Moderate to strong W wind. Freezing level 1300 m near Smithers, rising to 1000 m north of Kispiox.
Sunday: Mix of sun and cloud in the south of the region. Snowfall in the north. Strong SW wind. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.
Loose dry up to size 1 and soft wind slabs up to size 1.5 were reactive naturally and to ski cuts on Thursday.
20-30 cm of recent snow has accumulated over a variety of surfaces including facets, surface hoar, hard slab and in the southwest part of the region, a rain crust up to 1500 m. In wind loaded pockets, slabs may be reactive due to a poor bond with these underlying surfaces. In exposed alpine areas in the Telkwas, extensive wind effect has created supportive, hard surfaces.
Below this we have two persistent weak layers, the first is a surface hoar layer from mid-January buried down 20 to 30cm. The second is a layer of facets from early January which is now down 50 to 80cm, it has been most reactive where wind slab has formed above it and will now likely require a large load to trigger.
