Pizza, Powder, Sunshine!

One of the best days of the season up at the Grizzly Plateau with around 40 cm of storm snow accumulated over the last few days, combined with perfect visibility and sunshine. The best and safest riding was found in sheltered areas below treeline where the low-density snow resulted in soft conditions and lots of faceshots. At higher elevations, wind effect was more noticeable, resulting in firmer, less powdery conditions. We saw evidence of several recent small wind slabs and cornice failures but nothing large – overall the new snow seemed to be bonding pretty well. The main concern was a large slab on a northwest-facing treeline slope that likely released 2–3 days ago. The crown was up to 2 meters deep. Although it had been partially filled in by subsequent snowfall, the debris remained clearly visible. This avalanche failed on a persistent weak layer from late January and was likely triggered naturally during a period of rapid wind loading. We had good visibility into a range of avalanche terrain today, and this was the only large slab observed. We have a lot of uncertainty around this layer - It’s unlikely to be triggered at such depths, but if it goes, it goes BIG.