Avalanche Forecast
Sea To Sky
Snow totals are very uncertain in this weather pattern. Danger ratings are based on the higher forecast amounts of snow. New snow may add to wind slabs caused by extreme winds from Friday.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Be cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- Be alert to conditions that change with elevation.
- Stay off recent wind loaded areas until the slope has had a chance to stabilize.
Avalanche Problem 2: Cornices
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Recent heavy snowfall and high winds have formed fragile new cornices. These monsters may surprise with nasty consequences. Use extra caution around ridge crests.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.
- Falling cornices may trigger large avalanches on the slopes below.
Avalanche Summary
On Friday ski cutting produced several size 1 soft slabs on immediate down wind (lee) features.
Explosives control on Thursday and Friday triggered cornices at ridge crests, mostly Size 1.5 - 2.
Looking forward, light amounts snow and strong winds on Friday are expected to promote a new round of wind slab activity in higher elevation lee terrain.
Snowpack Summary
On Friday morning only 3-5cm of new snow had fallen overnight as temperatures warmed up to +1 at tree line. Winds, however, were strong to extreme from the south (gusting to 121 Km/hr at the peak of Whistler) and created fresh wind slabs in exposed downwind (lee) terrain. At lower treeline and below, generally light amounts of snow now overlie a melt-freeze crust which formed during last Monday's warm storm.
The new snow adds to the 170cm of snow that fell during the last few weeks of January. These series of storms were accompanied by strong to extreme winds which resulted in extensive scouring and impressive cornice growth in upper elevation terrain. These accumulations sit on a crust from mid-January which generally shows signs of bonding to the overlying snow; however, it has the potential to "wake-up" with a large trigger such as a cornice fall.
Below this, the snowpack is thought to be generally strong and well-settled.
Weather Forecast
Saturday: Snow (5 - 20cm possible) / Light to moderate westerly winds / Freezing level 1800m dropping to 1000m in the afternoon.
Sunday: 5-25cm of new snow / Moderate southwest winds / Freezing level at 1500m
Monday: Isolated flurries / Light north westerly winds / Freezing level at 1400m
Note: Confidence is low for forecast wind values and precipitation amounts on Saturday and Sunday.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Sea To Sky URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/sea-to-sky.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
Areas with high amounts of new snow could be primed for storm slabs whereas areas that see less snow may be more susceptible to wind slabs.