Little wind slab activity was observed today, even with evidence of the public skiing steeper alpine features on Sunday. Wind slabs can be felt underfoot in many locations, however the sensitivity has decreased. Don't let your guard down yet.
The Nov.5 crust/ facet layer exists up to 2500m on shady aspects, and higher on solar aspects. Where there is a dense slab overlying this layer, it remains a concern, and likely will be for the foreseeable future.
Deep persistent slabs are best managed by:
Cornices are best managed by:
Seasonal temperatures will persist in the region for the next 3 days. The valley will be near zero, with the ridge line being about -10. Upper level winds are expected to drop significantly tomorrow, with calm conditions up high. This will be disrupted by a once again strong wind pattern from the SW on Tues. Snow arriving again late Tuesday.
Wind slabs present at treeline and above from W-SW winds. At treeline 20-50 cm of storm snow sits over a layer of preserved stellars. The Nov. 5 facet/crust combo is down 50-80 cm and producing variable test results from easy to hard. The Nov crust extends up to 2500 m on N aspects and higher on solar aspects. Snow depths at treeline are 50-130 cm.
Today's field team, was near Bow Summit today. No avalanches were observed or reported in that area. Sunshine ski patrol, however, did report a size 2.5 avalanche that ran near the ground, likely yesterday, but was observed today. Control work at Sunshine produced avalanches up to size 1.5, in the form of wind slabs.