Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Backcountry Avalanche Advisory

As of Wednesday, March 11


Alpine: Considerable through Friday

Treeline: Moderate through Friday

Below Treeline: Low through Friday

Travel Advisory: Rapidly rising freezing levels and solar heating are expected to stress our questionable snowpack over the next few days. All aspects have now been affected by moderate to strong winds. You will find some isolated pockets of windslab that are reactive to the weight of a person. Caution is advised on any previously shallow rocky terrain that has now become wind-loaded. Remember that sometimes it only takes a bit of wind-transported snow to tip the balance and to overstress a buried weakness in the snowpack.

Avalanche Activity: Recent explosives and ski testing have produced no results in previously controlled terrain. There have also been isolated reports of deep slabs stepping down to the 08.12.06 crust up to size three.

Snowpack: Loose, cold snow and isolated pockets of windslab are sitting over old surfaces. These include windslab, melt-freeze crusts and surface hoar. The crust/facet combination that formed in early December is buried below a stiff hard bridging layer in some areas. In other areas where the snowpack is shallow, the basal weakness is more extensive and the overlying bridge is much weaker. These layers appear to be reaching their critical threshold in some areas with reports of skier and solar triggered activity occurring in various areas of the coast range.

Weather: Moderating temperatures and continued mostly clear skies are expected through Friday.

Check WhistlerBlackcomb.com or avalanche.ca for updated information. Travel with a partner and be equipped and prepared for self-rescue. Watch out for winch-cats or snowmobile traffic if you re-enter the area after operating hours.

- Blackcomb Snow Safety