Alpine: LOW
Treeline: LOW
Spring-like conditions have dominated the mountains within the Sea to Sky corridor during the past week. A solid melt-freeze crust is in place on the surface, underlain by a variable depth of moist or wet grains. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures have been fluctuating, so the crust has been remaining intact on some days but breaking down significantly on others. Good corn turns have been found by following the steep solar aspects around throughout the day.
Since the cooler overnight temperatures set in over the past weekend there has been no new avalanche activity reported. The weather pattern is expected to change for the remainder of the week as a more northerly flow pattern takes hold. Some periods of snow on Wednesday should be followed by clearing associated with cool temperatures. Keep in mind that any new snow accumulation may or may not bond well to the crust and will sluff easily when it is moistened by the sun.
For any optimists out there, the winters 1996/97, 1998/99, and 2002/03 all saw March total snowfalls of over 250 cm (taken at 1,650 metres on Whistler Mountain). During each of those months, at least 130 cm of that total came after the 15 th .
Remember that 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 at www.whistler-blackcomb.com/weather where there is also a link to the CAA public avalanche bulletin.
