Recent snow has improved ski conditions, and also formed wind slabs on lee slopes and isolated storm slabs on the March 20 crust.
Use caution in larger terrain while assessing how reactive the remaining layers in the snowpack are.
20-45 cm of snow with mod-strong SW winds last week formed wind slabs in alpine and treeline lee areas. The slabs are generally predictable but may extend further downslope than expected.
Storm slabs on the Mar 20 crust may have have formed in areas like Yoho and Kootenay where we received more snow.
A facet/crust interface from Jan is buried 70–180 cm deep. An extensive natural cycle occurred on this layer last week. We still see some hard, sudden test results at elevations above the Mar 20 rain crust (~2300 m). Large triggers like cornice falls or surface avalanches may trigger this layer.
Sunshine ski hill reported small cornice failures that initiated small wind slabs naturally in the alpine Saturday.
Lake Louise ski hill reported explosive results Friday on the Jan 24th persistent layer with crowns 100+cm deep.
Small storm snow avalanches failing on the March 20 rain crust were reported in Kootenay on Wednesday.
15-45 cm of new snow has fallen over the last week, with moderate to strong SW winds creating wind effect in open areas, and wind slabs in lee areas. This snow fell on the Mar 20th rain crust, which exists below 2100-2300m. Above this crust, various buried sun crusts exist on solar aspects, extending to higher elevations. Cornice growth continues.
The Jan 24th facet layer is buried 70–180 cm deep at treeline and in the alpine, with some tests still producing hard, sudden results
Saturday night: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h gusting to 45 km/h.
Sunday: Cloudy with scattered flurries. Accumulation: 4cm. Alpine temperature: High -9 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 10-30 km/h.
Monday: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries. Accumulation: 4 cm. Alpine temperature: Low -14 °C, High -9 °C. Ridge wind northwest: 10-30 km/h.
