New snow and sunshine in Cheam

<p>We were deployed to the Cheam Peak zone to investigate a crust/facet layer that has been problematic in the North Cascades south of the border as well as the south coast region. We found the crust down 125 cm. but the snow was well bonded to it in the area we observed. 30 cm. of recent snow and moderate winds formed reactive storm slabs failing on a storm interface of stellar crystals. This layer will most likely not be a problem after today. We saw numerous storm slabs up to size 2 on large alpine slopes below Lady Peak that were triggered by wind during last night’s storm. The sun was starting to heat up the new snow enough to trigger small wet loose avalanches on steep south facing slopes in the afternoon.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Mellow slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Sunny slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Snow Conditions

Wind affected, Powder.

Weather Conditions

Warm, Sunny.