Alpine
: Considerable trending to Moderate
Treeline
: Moderate trending to Low
Below Treeline
: Low
Travel Advisory
: Approximately 10 cm of moist snow fell in the high
alpine Monday, with freezing levels rising to approximately 2,050 metres. Mixed
snow and rain fell at the 1,850 metres elevation, with steady rainfall at lower
elevations. Freezing levels plummeted on Monday night with an additional 10 cm
of snow falling accompanied by strong East-Southeasterly winds at the mountain
tops. Last week’s sun crust remains exposed on any windward slopes and ridge
tops, while on lee slopes a new crust formed that is now buried by as much as
70 cm of wind-transported snow. Cornices have grown significantly during the
past 48 hours and are very fragile. It would be prudent to give them a wide
berth from both above and below.
Avalanche Activity : Avalanche control and ski testing throughout the day yesterday and this morning was producing avalanche activity and cornice falls up to size 2.0, mostly in the 20-25 cm range, with some windslabs observed up to 70 cm in depth. Some areas saw easy and widespread fracture propagation. A fairly widespread natural avalanche cycle appears to have occurred in the high alpine when the freezing levels rose on Monday.
Snowpack : Two easy shears were observed within the storm snow layers on Tuesday morning, one in the middle, and one a few centimetres above the underlying melt-freeze crust. Both of these shears appear to have tightened in somewhat during the course of the day and continued to due so last night. At treeline elevations the wet layer of snow that was observed under Monday night’s snowfall had begun to form a crust by Tuesday afternoon. We have not seen any avalanche activity on the Dec. 5 th facet/crust weakness since Jan. 21.
Weather : Mainly cloudy skies are forecast for today with a chance of isolated flurries and occasional sunny breaks. Cool and unsettled conditions are expected to prevail on Thursday and Friday.
Conditions may vary and can change rapidly. Check for the most current conditions before heading out into the backcountry. Daily updates for the areas adjacent to Whistler-Blackcomb are available at 604-938-7676, or surf to www.whistler-blackcomb.com/weather where there is also a link to the CAA public avalanche bulletin, or call 1-800-667-1105.
–Whistler Mtn Snow Safety
