Avalanche Forecast
Sea To Sky
An overnight transition from rain to snow leaves us with some uncertainty for Wednesday. Expect the new snow to form touchy slabs in areas where it accumulates.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Don't just follow the crowd. Look for recent wind loading patterns and choose your line accordingly.
- Watch for wind-loaded pockets around ridgecrests and in the lee of exposed terrain features.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
A layer of surface hoar, sugary facets, and/or crust is buried 50-100 cm deep and has produced widespread whumpfing, concerning snowpack test results, and a few large remotely triggered avalanches. Upper treeline elevations are the greatest concern.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Cornice or wind slab releases may step down to deeper layers and result in large avalanches.
- Use increasingly conservative route selection while travelling at treeline elevations.
- Avoid open slopes and convex rolls at treeline where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Monday included observations of three natural size 2.5 loose wet avalanches that released from steep, rocky, south-facing slopes in the afternoon in the Whistler area.
On Sunday there was a report of a skier triggered size 2 storm slab avalanche on a west aspect at 2400m. On Saturday there were several size 2.5 natural persistent slab avalanches reported. These were suspected to have run in the previous 24hours and were observed on northwest to east aspects between 1900 and 2000m. Additionally there have been several observations of skier triggered storm and wind slab avalanche size 1-2 mostly on northerly aspects between 1800 and 2000m.
Snowpack Summary
After a bout of light rain, light new snow amounts are expected to accumulate on the surface over Tuesday night and Wednesday. The new snow is accumulating above variable crust and moist snow that formed on the surface after days of warm temperatures and sunshine. The storm snow beneath this interface was previously redistributed by west and south winds.
Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust that is roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. This layer has produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and some remotely triggered avalanches. Lots of the activity has been on buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. The snowpack is well settled and strong beneath this interface.
Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.
Weather Forecast
Tuesday night: Rain transitioning to wet flurries and bringing around 6 cm of new snow. Light south winds.
Wednesday: Continuing flurries bringing about 5 cm of new snow. Light southwest winds. Freezing level to 1200 metres with alpine high temperatures of -4.
Thursday: Mainly sunny. Light northeast winds. Freezing level to 1400 metres with alpine high temperatures around -5.
Friday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light north winds. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine high temperatures around -3.
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.
Another light dose of new snow will promote the formation of thin new wind slabs in lee terrain on Wednesday. The new snow will bury older, larger wind slabs that may still be reactive to human triggering.