Avalanche Forecast
South Columbia
Wind slabs are reactive at higher elevations. Pay attention to changes in snow conditions and avoid areas where the snow feels stiff or slabby.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
- Choose well supported terrain without convexities.
- Watch for signs of instability such as whumpfing, or cracking.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity following last week's storms has tapered off. Numerous size 1-2 human-triggered storm slab avalanches were reported on Saturday, but activity on Sunday was mostly limited to size 1 wind slabs triggered by ski cutting on steep convex rolls. A notable avalanche was triggered on Saturday west of Revelstoke, where a ski cut propagated down to the late November crust and produced a size 2.5 avalanche. Large avalanches running on this crust may become a concern later this week when temperatures rise.
Snowpack Summary
Snow from last week's storms is settling and getting redistributed into fresh wind slabs by northwest winds. Roughly 30-70 cm of recent snow sits above various crusts from the warm weather in late November. Most reports suggest the snow is bonding to the crusts so far, but there's potential for this layer to develop into a problem in the future. Snow depths decrease rapidly below treeline, where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.
Weather Forecast
TUESDAY: Alpine sun and valley cloud, light northwest wind, alpine temperatures warming to -5 C.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny with valley cloud, light wind, inversion forming with alpine temperatures possibly reaching above 0 C.
THURSDAY: Sunny with valley cloud, light wind, inversion with freezing level up to 3000 m.
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Avalanches are most likely on wind-loaded slopes downwind of ridges and gullies. Changes in wind direction will likely form fresh wind slabs on a variety of aspects.