Avalanche Forecast
Sea To Sky
Caution on shady aspects in the alpine and tree line elevation bands where a persistent weak layer may be reactive. See Friday's Forecaster Blog for more details: goo.gl/8Z83Cv
Avoid sunny slopes if the sun does come out in full force.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow.
- Extra caution needed around cornices with current conditions.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
A weak layer of surface hoar or facetted crystals has become reactive especially where it may be sitting on a hard crust.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid steep convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
- Be aware of the potential for wide propagations.
Avalanche Problem 3: Loose Wet
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
The sun could make an appearance this weekend: if it does, it will pack a punch and weaken surface snow layers.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid exposure to sunny slopes.
- Watch for clues, like sluffing off cliffs and pinwheeling, that the snowpack is warming up.
- Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could trigger persistent slabs.
Avalanche Summary
On Wednesday there was a size 1 avalanche that sympathetically triggered a size 3 persistent slab avalanche resulting in a fatality. This was on a northeast aspect at 2000m, 50cm deep. Additionally there were reports of natural persistent slab avalanches size 2.5-3 on southeast through northeast aspects between 1800 and 2000m. These were reported to have happened in the previous 24-48 hours.
On Monday reports show explosives and skier controlled triggered storm and wind slab avalanches to size 1.5 on north and east aspects in the alpine. On Sunday there was a report of a skier-triggered cornice failure (size 2) on a northwest aspect at 2100 m, as well as skier and sledder triggered storm slabs (size 1.5) on east and north aspects in the alpine.
Snowpack Summary
We've seen only trace amounts of new snow in the past two days. Winds, however, have been moderate to strong from the south, building fresh wind slabs and further growing cornices.
Last week's storm snow has been redistributed by moderate to strong southwest winds. This snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard sudden planar results, typically down 50-60cm on 1-2mm facets.
Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.
The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.
Weather Forecast
There may be some significant periods of sunny weather on Saturday into Sunday before a weak system comes through Sunday evening. Temperatures are staying cool for this time of year.
SATURDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods / Light to moderate west wind / Alpine temperature -5 / Freezing level 1400m
SUNDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries / Light to moderate west wind / Alpine temperature -7 / Freezing level decreasing to 1000m
MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud and occasional flurries / Light to moderate southwest wind / Alpine temperature -7 / Freezing level 1000m
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.
Recent strong winds have formed wind slabs in the lee of terrain features. These may be most reactive where they may be sitting on a thin and weak layer of facetted crystals on shady aspects.