January 05, 2008
Whistler Avalanche conditions
January 05, 2008
Alpine: High
Treeline: Considerable
Below Treeline: Considerable
Travel Advisory: Another 40cm of snow fell overnight bringing the 24 hour total to about 50cm. Strong winds from predominantly the S and SE have battered the high alpine terrain for the past 36 hours. The winds are expected to abate during the day today but the forecast snowfall will continue to load the start zones. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended for today.
Avalanche Activity: A minimal amount of ski and explosive testing was carried out this morning at treeline and below treeline elevations. We were seeing numerous size 1 soft slabs with some crowns to 40 cm in depth. You can expect that some natural activity will be occurring in the high alpine terrain and that cornices will be growing.
Snowpack: The overnight wind affected snow is sitting on a variety of storm snow surfaces that were created by the 150kph winds that gusted overnight on Jan 3/4th. The December 4th facet crystal and raincrust weakness is getting buried deeper, but the crust can still be found on the surface in some wind affected terrain. Although this buried weakness has gradually been gaining strength, it may persist in some areas well into the season and it should be treated with lots of respect. Shallow rocky terrain is facetted as well, and failures there could propagate into the deeper instabilities. There have been no recent reports of deeper slab releases, but that could change after the current snowfall events have gone through the area.
Weather: The current system should go through the area today, but the trailing unstable airmass will continue to bring periods of flurries for Saturday and Sunday. Monday is expected to be relatively dry, but more snowfall is forecast for Tuesday. The freezing level should remain close to the valley.
January 05, 2008
Alpine: High
Treeline: Considerable
Below Treeline: Considerable
Travel Advisory: Another 40cm of snow fell overnight bringing the 24 hour total to about 50cm. Strong winds from predominantly the S and SE have battered the high alpine terrain for the past 36 hours. The winds are expected to abate during the day today but the forecast snowfall will continue to load the start zones. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended for today.
Avalanche Activity: A minimal amount of ski and explosive testing was carried out this morning at treeline and below treeline elevations. We were seeing numerous size 1 soft slabs with some crowns to 40 cm in depth. You can expect that some natural activity will be occurring in the high alpine terrain and that cornices will be growing.
Snowpack: The overnight wind affected snow is sitting on a variety of storm snow surfaces that were created by the 150kph winds that gusted overnight on Jan 3/4th. The December 4th facet crystal and raincrust weakness is getting buried deeper, but the crust can still be found on the surface in some wind affected terrain. Although this buried weakness has gradually been gaining strength, it may persist in some areas well into the season and it should be treated with lots of respect. Shallow rocky terrain is facetted as well, and failures there could propagate into the deeper instabilities. There have been no recent reports of deeper slab releases, but that could change after the current snowfall events have gone through the area.
Weather: The current system should go through the area today, but the trailing unstable airmass will continue to bring periods of flurries for Saturday and Sunday. Monday is expected to be relatively dry, but more snowfall is forecast for Tuesday. The freezing level should remain close to the valley.
