Use representative, low-consequence features to investigate the reactivity of wind-transported snow. Dial back to lower angle terrain if you encounter signs of instability.
Old hard wind slabs over weak sugary facets on a hard crust remain human-triggerable, mainly in rocky, steep alpine terrain.
On Saturday a skier accidentally triggered a large avalanche near Hudson Bay Mountain. It is suspected that this avalanche failed on the same persistent weak layer described in our snowpack summary. Check this MIN post for full details.
A few small natural avalanches were also reported in the Babines.
On Friday, a small ( size 1) skier-triggered size slab avalanche was reported in the Hudson Bay Mountain area. This avalanche failed on the same persistent weak layer.
A variety of conditions can be found in exposed terrain at treeline and above, including crusty and wind affected surfaces. In sheltered terrain, there is up to 5 cm of snow on top of a breakable crust and new surface hoar development.
In isolated areas in the alpine, old, often hard wind slabs overlie a persistent layer of weak, sugary facets above a crust. This has kept some old slabs surprisingly sensitive to human triggering.
The remainder of the snowpack is generally not concerning.
Check out this MIN from our field team in the Babines.
Monday night
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 5 - 10 km/h northwest alpine wind. Freezing level to valley bottom.
Tuesday
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 5 - 10 km/h north alpine wind. treeline temperature -3 °C with freezing level to 800 m.
Wednesday
A mix of sun and cloud. 10 - 15 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C with freezing level to 700m.
Thursday
Becoming mainly sunny. 20 - 40 km/h west alpine wind, increasing. Treeline temperature around -1 °C with freezing level rising to 1400 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
