Avalanche Forecast
Sea To Sky
Winter continues. Snow forecast for Thursday is expected to build new storm slabs.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use conservative route selection: choose moderate angled and supported terrain with low consequence.
- Travel on ridgetops to avoid wind slabs on slopes below.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Persistent slabs are most likely to be triggered with a large load like cornice fall; or by a person in a thin or variable-depth snowpack spot.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid steep convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
- Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could trigger persistent slabs.
Avalanche Summary
A handful of skier-triggered size 1 storm slabs were reported on Tuesday. The size and likelihood of storm slabs are expected to increase with Thursday's storm. Cornice fall remains a possibility. A cornice could tickle a deeply buried weak layer and trigger a surprisingly large avalanche.
Snowpack Summary
Forecast snow is expected to build new storm/wind slabs on Thursday. Cornices are reported to be large and fragile. New snow will overlie various old surfaces including existing storm slabs, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs and dry snow.
A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets or a sun crust buried in late March is now down about 60-80 cm. This is patchy in its distribution, but is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m.
The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: 15-30 cm snow. Moderate to strong southerly winds. Freezing level near 1500 m.
FRIDAY: Light snow. Light southerly winds. Freezing level near 1500 m.
SATURDAY: Light to moderate snow. Light winds. Freezing level rising to 1750 m.
Weather models disagree on the amount of snow expected this week.
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Snow and wind are expected to build touchy slabs which could be triggered with the weight of a person. Cornices are also fragile.