Avalanche Forecast
South Coast
Heavy snowfall in the North Shore mountains (60-90cm storm snow) will take time to settle and bond to a crust. Carefully assess the snowpack before venturing into more aggressive terrain.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid steep convex slopes.
Avalanche Summary
Storm slabs were easily triggered by ski cutting on Thursday into Friday. See here for a good video of how easily the snow was moving on Thursday. We also had a fine MIN post describing storm slab activity on Mt Seymour
Expect human triggered and natural avalanches to occur in steep, wind-affected terrain at higher elevations while precipitation continues.
Snowpack Summary
Significant amounts of storm snow fell over the past two days, with 50-80 cm of new snow accumulating. That said, the snow appears to be bonding well to a crust (down 70-90cm at treeline elevations) and stabilizing rapidly.
During the storms, instabilities have generally been short-lived and limited to layers down 20-30cm in the storm snow, or specific lee (northerly) features which saw rapid loading due to south (east) winds.
Travel has improved below treeline, however, there are still open creeks, alder and other early season hazards. Expect snow depths of around 50 cm at 800 m and around 200 cm at 1200 m.
Weather Forecast
We'll see a clearing trend on Sunday and fine weather during the week.
Sunday: Clearing in the morning and then dry with some sunny breaks. Light northwesterly winds. Freezing levels 800m.
Monday: Sunny with cloudy periods. Freezing levels around 400 m. Light northwesterly winds.
Tuesday: Mainly sunny and becoming warm up high. Freezing levels rising to 2000 m. Light northerly winds.
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
- South Coast URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/south-coast.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 snow and wind resulted in slab avalanche conditions in steep and/or exposed terrain. Be careful around broad open slopes and steep terrain, especially where you can feel the November 26th crust with your ski pole.