Avalanche Forecast
South Coast
Wind slabs remain reactive to human triggers. Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices, especially when the sun is out.
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.
- Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where small avalanches may have severe consequences.
- Watch for whumpfing, hollow sounds, and shooting cracks.
Avalanche Problem 2: Cornices
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Large cornices have formed along ridgelines. Cornices are inherently unstable, unpredictable, and demand respect, especially if the sun is shining.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Give cornices a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
- Firm cornices may pull back into flat terrain at ridgetop if they fail.
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, several natural wind slab avalanches were reported from all aspects up to size 2. Although a couple of them were fresh, the bulk of them were up to 72 hours old. Natural avalanche activity is tapering, but human triggered slabs that sit above the buried crust remain possible.
Snowpack Summary
Surface snow is highly variable and wind-affected. In exposed terrain, strong north winds have scoured north facing slopes and loaded south facing slopes. In sheltered terrain, cold weather is preserving 30-50 cm of low density snow. A hard rain crust that extends into alpine terrain is buried about 40 cm beneath the recent storm snow. Reports suggest the snow has a poor bond to the crust with test results showing sudden planar characteristics and it remains reactive to human triggers. Monitor the bond of the snow to this crust closely. There are no significant layers of concern below the crust.
Weather Forecast
Thursday: Mostly sunny with treeline temperatures near -2 and freezing levels 500 m. Ridgetop winds light from the North.
Friday: Overcast with new snow amounts 5-15 cm. Treeline temperatures near -2 and ridgetop winds strong from the South.
Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud. Treeline temperatures near -2 with freezing levels 600 m. Light to moderate winds from the northwest.
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.
Strong northerly winds from several days past have formed stiff wind slabs. Wind slabs remain reactive to human triggers, especially where they sit on a buried crust. Loose dry sluffing is likely from steeper terrain features.