Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is most likely.
Very large human-triggered avalanches are possible.
Easterly wind and up to 15 cm of new snow arrived on Tuesday, forming wind slabs in lee areas. Winds have shifted to the south, and wind slabs could be found on all aspects.
Cornices are large, looming, and may trigger large persistent slabs on slopes below.
Persistent weak layers of crusts/facets in the top 200 cm are possible to trigger.
This is a low-probability, high-consequence problem. Signs of instability will not be obvious. The only defence is smaller, low-consequence terrain.
Several natural wind and persistent slab avalanches failed over the last few days, some cornice-triggered.
Observations in this region are limited, and there's uncertainty about buried weak layers in the upper/mid snowpack.
In the neighbouring region, a fatal avalanche accident occurred north of Terrace on March 22. Available details can be found here.
Submit to the MIN and keep your terrain choices conservative.
Up to 15 cm of recent snowfall was accompanied by easterly winds, which have now shifted to the south, creating wind slabs on a variety of aspects and wind-affected surfaces. Below the recent snow are a variety of surfaces, including small surface hoar, facets, crusts, and wind-scoured snow.
There are multiple persistent weak layers consisting of crust/facets or surface hoar in the top 200 cm of the snowpack. We have limited information on the distribution and reactivity of these layers.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. 1 cm of snow. 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and clouds. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
