North Island
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 27th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 27th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Wet Slabs.
Published: Mar 25th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 23rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 22nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 20th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 17th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 15th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 14th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 13th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 11th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 10th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 9th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs.
Published: Mar 8th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Published: Mar 6th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 5th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 3rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 2nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 1st, 2025Mount Hoy Snowshoe trip
<p>A sunny snowshoe up Mount Hoy. We followed the logging road up for about 4.5km before cutting into the trees and onto the open plateau. We stayed on mellow slopes at tree line and only saw signs of warming and instability on steep slopes below the summit. Conditions became slushy in the afternoon with 20°+ heat.</p>
k.schnurr07,
Sunday 30th April, 2023 11:00AM
Cain you believe it's April?
<p>After yesterday's pow session at Washy, it was time to head north and see how that part of the island was faring after the latest storm. Up at Mount Cain we found the last 5 km of the road to be in poor travel conditions. The snow on the road is fairly deep, and while there are some tracks passing through it, it is not in good shape. Up top we found the new snow to be well-preserved, still dry and moderately light, with some wind affect. The 50 cm of new snow recorded at the weather station was up to 100 cm deep in some wind loaded areas. We saw several size 2 slab avalanches that had occurred during the course of the storm, however, in our snow pit we did not find any reactivity. We did manage to propagate a small crack along the West Bowl entrance cornice, but it was limited to the 5-10 cm of snow from the last 24 hours that was loaded to about 30 cm in that spot. While it may be possible to still trigger this most recent snow as a wind slab, it would likely be limited to loaded spots immediately lee of ridge areas. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 19th April, 2023 3:10PM
Rustlin’ Russell
<p>This storm is packing a serious punch. Winds were extreme on ridges and snowfall was intense. Rain was falling below 1000m and snow above. By the time we left (1030am) there was 15cm of fresh fluffy snow above 1350m and wet snow below.
No natural or human triggered slides witnessed but are expected as the storm continues. </p>
sportnewk,
Sunday 9th April, 2023 12:20PM
Maquilla Gave Us A Thrill-a
<p>Temps hovered just below zero at treeline.
Strong winds were present in the alpine and ridge tops. In the alpine we found little to no visibility due to cloud and blowing snow so we stayed in the trees.
Snow stayed dry but often wind loaded above 1350m and isothermal in the top 25cm of the snowpack below.
No natural or human triggered slides observed.
</p>
sportnewk,
Saturday 8th April, 2023 3:20PM
Where There’s A Whiltilla There’s A Way!
<p>The Bonanza Range did not received the same snow that fell in the Strathcona area. We found 5cm of fresh snow above 1200m elevation. A sun crust was present on all but protected N slopes.
All aspects seemed wind affected. Wind was 50km/h+ on summits and ridges.
Spring seasonal hazards are quite common currently. Logging roads are melting out in sections and creeks are open and dangerous to cross.
No natural or skier triggered avalanches observed. Plenty of pinwheeling on sunny slopes.
</p>
sportnewk,
Friday 7th April, 2023 7:00PM
Finally we were Able to get somewhere!
<p>
After being skunked yesterday, we ventured north on another glorious island spring day. We set our sight on Mt Able, where we knew we would be able to find some good skiing. We were forced to park the truck at the Adam main due patchy snow. Quick sled ride up to the bottom of the ridge, where we strapped on the boots and started walking. Travel was quick and variable. In the deep dark north facing shade we were surprised to find dry snow! This was interspersed with moist snow and crust. Views were epic from the sub peak as we watched people tearing up Mt Cain across the valley for spring break. We observed multiple loose wet avalanches on solar aspects in steep terrain, likely from the last two days. For our descent we oped to ski all aspects that we could. On solar aspects the top 10-15 cm was moist and sliding on the crust. On the North side, dry snow could be found in well shaded areas, but anything that sees sun was crusty. Our line ended in a type two fun light bushwack session. Pleasant skiing all around! </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 29th March, 2023 4:20PM
The pain at Cain is graupel
<p>With new snow in the hills, we headed to Mount Cain to see how it was bonding to our latest crust. By noon, there was 15-20 cm of new snow. Beneath this new snow lay 1-3 cm of graupel, on top of the melt-freeze crust that formed earlier this week. In the morning it was -5 and the new snow remained dry, but by 1 PM the sun started peaking out, and the surface snow quickly became moist. The winds were calm to moderate throughout the day, predominantly from the NE, but did vary quite a lot in direction. On the ridgetops, the new snow had been stripped down to the crust in many areas, and created wind slabs up to 40 cm deep in the lee. We found that in a hand shear test, the snow was sliding very easily in the graupel. In our snowpack tests we also found that the graupel layer was quick to fail, but since we did many of our snowpack tests before the sun came out, much of the new snow was lacking in slab properties. However, we began to see the snow become more of a slab on our way down. We took a lap down through the resort and found that you could feel the crust beneath the new snow if you turned too hard, but if you could stay above the crust the skiing was quite pleasant. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Friday 24th March, 2023 4:50PM
Finally... Victory at Victoria!
<p>Success! We made it up the ridge on Victoria peak on a glorious spring island day. We could drive to 33 km on East Main Road. But we suspect it will be a lot further soon, seeing as we had to drive a km on bare ground. We left our sled at the first creek crossing and did the rest the old fashioned way. Travel was quick and sporty on the skin track before the day warmed up. We got up to 1500 m, with an air temp high of 7°. Top 5-10 cm became slushy in the sun, pinwheeling was occurring on all aspects. There was extensive loose and wet small avalanches. We found the two rain crusts that we have been tracking at Mt Cain were buried 30 & 45 cm deep. On the way down we enjoyed our first corn harvest of the year with beautiful slushy conditions!
</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 22nd March, 2023 5:00PM
More Russell and sore muscles
<p>With a pretty good handle on avalanche conditions we decided to use today for some sled skills work in the marshy meadowy approach to Mt Russell. We found only 20 cm of very settled storm snow positively welded to the melt freeze crust that makes up the storm interface in this area, but it sledded wonderfully. No wind effect in this sheltered zone so no wind slab to speak of, but recent slabs should be well on their way to settling and bonding now anyway. It was a great way to end the week!</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 15th March, 2023 4:30PM
Shootin' Dreams
<p>Did an early morning tour to summit up Dream at 9am. Dug a pit at the min report, West aspect 33 degree slope. CTH 24 non-planar break on top of melt-freeze crust 55cm down. Snow seemed fairly bonded to this layer at this time. Break was not clean and snow was fairly consolidated above this point. Dream chute had decent snow about 15 cm of powder in the upper half, but then got quite chundery down below. No signs of instability from the morning. Some small loose wets in the East Bowl from yesterday.</p>
pgalbraith2,
Saturday 11th March, 2023 7:00PM
Persistent slab check-in at Cain
<p>We made our way back to Cain for the third day in the last week to check up on the persistent slab problem affecting the area ahead of the weekend. Super sunny day with evidence of yesterday's strong south winds but not much in the way of new wind slabs. At our same profile site in West Bowl we were pleased to find much less alarming test results at our crust layer down about 40 cm in this spot. Instead of dramatic propagation across our 90 cm-wide test column with moderate taps, we had an uneven collapse of the soft snow above the crust but only directly below our shovel blade, again with moderate taps. While we don't want to place too much emphasis on a single profile, we felt good about picking one of the mellower lines in the bowl to ski down. There are still more than a few features - super steep, unsupported, thin-to-thick type spots - we'd be hesitant to approach or place a large trigger like a regroup or landing an air, but it seems like we're rounding the corner. Bring on the storms!</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Friday 10th March, 2023 2:40PM
Hustle your bustle up Russell
<p>After being shut down by windfalls last year, it was a delight to finally make it up to Mount Russell today. Snow on the Tlatlos had us sledding from the intersection with the Eden. We parked off to the side because they are busy hauling on the Eden, make sure you have your radio on and tuned in to RR 21. The road travel was easy all the way up to the cutblocks on the ridge. From there we jumped on our skis and scooted across the meadows and up the ridge. We dug a pit to look for the ice layer that has been on our mind from Mount Cain. We were pleased to find that the Feb 20 crust is a melt freeze crust at this location, not an ice crust, and the snow has a moderate bond, but is still producing hard sudden results in compression and extended column testing. This tells us it could still be problematic in isolated, steep features. In the sun the snow was getting wet down 5cm, and we saw plenty of pinwheeling and tree bombs. We climbed to the ridge and found a nice line down on the north side in the soft powder, a few transitions later and we were back at our sleds and headed out for the day. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Thursday 9th March, 2023 5:10PM
Victoria Peak ..we haven't given up on you yet!
<p>Can't win 'em all! We took a stab at accessing Victoria Peak from Sayward today with limited success. Skunked by active falling around km 30 (WR350 branch, check out the last pic for access contact info) so we circled around to the Victoria - Queen col but were met by a steep headwall that thwarted our efforts to gain elevation on Victoria. Topping out at a measly 1000 m, we were not able to assess for the presence or absence of the same crust we've been tracking at Cain. We suspect it's limited to the immediate surroundings there but are still hesitant to rule out other parts of the north Island. On our way back we took a quick rip up one of the access points to the friendly-looking Memekay mountain. We were too short on time to do the full trip but it seems like a fun place to check out if you can get your sled up there!</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 8th March, 2023 4:30PM
Showing restrain(t) at Cain
<p>We thought we would head back to Mount Cain today to see if anything had changed with that problem layer over the weekend. Bad news, it has not. The facet-y layer on the crust is still there, reacts in tests, and is overlaid by a wind slab. This problem layer can be anywhere from 10-80 cm deep, depending on how wind affected the slope is. Unfortunately, nothing in our immediate future looks like weather that will change this problem. On our approach to west bowl we saw several natural large avalanches that had run in the area of "the doors." These avalanches appeared to have started as wind slabs and stepped down to this crust, they seemed to be 24-36 hours old. There were also a few very large crown lines from avalanches on Dream peak that appear to have run on this crust. The wind was still blowing the surface snow around a little bit, but it looked as though wind transport is nearly complete. With all this in mind, we backed away from our pit location, and headed down the groomers at the end of the day. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Tuesday 7th March, 2023 4:40PM
Cautious at Cain
<p>Mount Cain received some new snow over the last few days, so of course we had to follow. We peeped just below ridge crest in W Bowl and are glad that's as far as we went! Significant winds have buried up to 80 cm's of snow on top of the ice crust from mid February. We got sudden results in our extended column test on this layer. With these results and the wonderful new snow, it was a pleasure to make our way down within the resort boundaries. If you want more info on the snowpack there right now look at @avcan_vanisland on instagram and watch our video. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Friday 3rd March, 2023 5:10PM
Cain was Insane
<p>Skiing was insane at Cain. As other MINs reported there were a number of natural and human triggered slides up to size 2 in the West Bowl.
We avoided the alpine due to strong winds Friday and Saturday. Trees held dry, low density snow. I triggered a size 1 slide at the entrance gulley of the 3oclock trees. Crown was about 35cm, 10m wide and ran ~60m.
Photo from GoPro shows the slide running off the tip of my skis.</p>
sportnewk,
Monday 27th February, 2023 8:20PM
Lots of spice and many things nice.
<p>A weekend of lift assisted backcountry at Mt Cain:
Saturday Feb 25: We arrived with high hopes for skiing in the alpine, however the wind had removed or pressed all of the existing snow into awfulness, newly arriving snow was quickly scrubbed away. Sluff was long running in the 3 o'clock trees all day on Saturday. We saw also observed the remnants of a series of sz 1 avalanches in the west bowl from snow earlier in the week.
Sunday Feb 26: It snowed roughly 15-20 cms overnight with low winds, we headed up to the west bowl to check it out, we observed a fresh sz 2 skier accidental at the entrance to the west bowl. It appears the avalanche triggered above and behind the skier as the skier traversed across the slope, the slide was approx 15 m wide and ran over 100 m, the skier was not caught. We observed a second skier accidental sz 1.5 in door 2 in the morning that sent a skier for a ride without injury. By 2 pm the new storm snow had stabilized and we could not get any results from hand shears in the NE side of the west bowl. We got a closer look at the door 2 avalanche and noted it failed on a convexity, it was approx 30 cm deep and 15 m wide, running for approx 30 m.
</p>
bengodwin123,
Monday 27th February, 2023 12:20AM
Chamcain Pow
<p>Saw 30 cm on the CHRL stations at Cain and knew we had to go investigate! We arrived to positively stunning snow conditions, with 30-40 cm of new snow doing a great job of hiding the crust. Recent northerly winds were obvious (northeasterly today) with light wind effect below treeline escalating to moderate, borderline heavy wind effect in the alpine with transport still ongoing through the day. Wind slabs up to 80 or so cm deep were the result, having formed in some odd spots thanks to the northerlies. Testing these slabs at all elevations gave quite stubborn, sluggish cracking but we did observe one size 1.5 skier/rider triggered slab at the bottom end of one of the East Bowl chutes. Seemed like midslope was actually a bit more likely to produce avalanches with so much snow being stripped from the alpine and landing lower down. It was cold! -15C. Should preserve this powder nicely but keep the potential for new wind slab formation going too. Winds look like they step up a bit tonight. :(</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 22nd February, 2023 5:00PM
The dust Cain hide the crust
<p>We headed up to Mount Cain today to see how well the latest snow has helped hide our most recent crust. We were pleasantly surprised to find 15-35cm of new snow sitting on top of the ice crust that was formed last weekend. There was evidence on both Cain and Abel of a storm slab avalanche cycle that had occurred in the past 24 hours. We found that wind slabs have formed on lee aspects at and just below ridge tops, and have the potential to still slide on the ice crust beneath them. Heading up the ridge towards the golf clubs, the ice has been exposed in a few spots, making for slippery traversing. With the lingering potential for wind slabs, as well as the rapidly diminishing visibility, we elected to ski down the resort rather than head into the bowl. We found that the new snow could protect you from feeling the crust on lower angle terrain, however it was still easy to scrape down to the crust on steeper slopes. In spite of the recent wind transport, there is still a lot of snow available to be blown around and form new wind slabs with our increasing winds this weekend. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Friday 17th February, 2023 4:50PM
Pow, Sun, and rain, we saw it all at Cain
<p>We headed up to Mount Cain for backcountryfest this weekend. On Friday we went for a tour to check conditions, we found the storm had delivered 40cm of beautiful new powder. However by the end of the day it had become quite heavy and moist. The storm snow had settled and refrozen quite well for Saturday leaving some occasionally crusty, but good turns to be found. By Sunday morning the snow was wet on the surface below 1400m, and capped by a 2cm freezing rain crust above 1400m. As the rain continued to come and with freezing levels forecast to continue to rise we headed out early. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Sunday 12th February, 2023 1:20PM
The Russell Hussell 2.0: Featuring Rain
<p>Stayed out of the Alpine due to strong winds and high avalanche forecast. Freezing level rose to at ~1500m and wet snow fell from 1500-1200m.
Pinwheeling was observed as well as slide (sz1) debris from a W facing slope @1500m from yesterday’s storm.</p>
sportnewk,
Monday 6th February, 2023 3:40PM
Mt Cain hockey season coming to an end
<p>Made our way up to check out Mt Cain today. We expected more snow with the overnight storm but only found trace to 3 cm had fallen here. Moderate to strong south winds had moved what snow was available for transport and built tiny wind slabs up to 10 cm thick. The new snow is bonding poorly, and we were able to get some mini sluffs to run far and fast on the crust. Thinking the snow from the next storm will probably do the same thing. Road is plowed all the way to the parking lot.</p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 1st February, 2023 4:50PM
Mt Cain Hockey Rink
<p>Did some poking around at Mt Cain for the first time touring. Found a very gnarly solar crust and a melt freeze crust every where else. The solar aspects in East bowl were basically a continuous ice sheet that did not soften much in the warmth of the day. Temps were hovering just below zero, light breeze out of the north ish.
Book packed up the col ate lunch, contemplated life, love and the pursuit of good turns some day. Views were stunning. </p>
MikG,
Monday 30th January, 2023 8:00AM
We Cain, we saw, we dug, we skied
<p>With the weekend fast approaching, we decided to pack up and head north to Mount Cain Alpine Resort in anticipation of a busy weekend. We are pleased to report that the most recent storm on Wednesday night graced us with 30 cm of new snow. We skinned up into the alpine to hunt for the melt-freeze crust that we have been seeing so far this week. Above 1500 m we found this crust to be nearly negligible. After digging our pit in East Bowl and finding minimal results, we headed into West Bowl to check out the conditions. We found that there were wind slabs sitting in some features that were reactive to skier traffic. Throughout the day, we saw that multiple avalanches that had occurred during the storm at all elevations up to size 2. All in all, a wonderful day of skiing with lots of new snow to enjoy, but we are going to keep those wind slabs on the front of our minds heading into the weekend. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Thursday 19th January, 2023 4:50PM
Victoria Creek, I mean Peak
<p>We did our first pilgrimage attempt to Victoria Peak today. We were able to drive to the 39 km mark on the West Gold River main, then it was snow covered roads from there. It was good sledding conditions until we got to the creek crossings, 15 in total, and with the current snowpack they are more foot bridges than sled bridges. We hopped on our skis at 950 m and at this point the snow is still very isothermal and wet. By 1000 m the crust was beginning to form, and where we stopped at 1200 m at the top of the cut block the crust was 4cm thick. The new snow appeared to be bonding well to this new crust, but we will keep our eye on it as the snow continues. There were moderate to strong winds blowing the new snow around as well. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Tuesday 17th January, 2023 4:40PM
Cain after the rain
<p>We hit Mount Cain today to check it out after that great rain that we got for Christmas, good guess Santa, but next year we would rather have snow. Overnight, our new crust had been dusted by 2-10cm, increasing as you head up the mountain. This was sitting on our previous storm snow that has become a crust of varying thickness, decreasing as you head up the mountain. Beneath the crust, our snowpack had been well wetted down, which has eliminated any previous problem layers we were concerned about. Welcome back to a coastal snowpack, if only it were deeper! We were pleasantly surprised by how soft the new snow skied, the crust was supportive to our skis but I wouldn't march around on it. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Wednesday 28th December, 2022 4:50PM
Mt Cain West Bowl
<p>1325m at base of main hourglass gully.
Snowpack between 200-230cm.
Dug pit to ground.
CT Moderate at 190cm
CT Hard at 150cm & 110cm
2-3cm ice - classic Island rain crust at 40cm CT Moderate.
</p>
WildIsle,
Monday 19th December, 2022 8:10AM
Just checking we Cain still ski.
<p>First field day of the season for our team, we were excited to get back out there and get into the snow. With the road not being plowed, we sledded from about halfway up the Cain road and then jumped on our skis for a quick lap to the top of the ski hill. The wind effect on snow so far this year was evident, as was our need for more snow. The sharks are out! Ski penetration on the up track varies from 0-40cm. At treeline and above, the slopes have been wind stripped down to rock in some areas. We dug a pit on a SE facing slope at 1350m and got an easy result on an extended column test down 30cm. This tell us that skier or sledder triggered avalanches are likely at this time. If you could connect turns around the small trees and other such obstacles, watching out for wind lip features, the skiing was pretty darn good. </p>
AvCan Vancouver Island,
Thursday 8th December, 2022 5:40PM