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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of snow from Thursday into Friday sits on sun crusts on solar aspects and well-settled storm snow on more northerly aspects. Several other sun crust layers may be found within the older storm snow on solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 70-120 cm) are variably reactive, but both have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10-15 cm new snow has formed storm slabs that overlie a sun crusts on solar aspects. A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) are variably reactive, but both have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of recent storm snow is settling rapidly with warm daytime temperatures. Expect moist snow on solar aspects and on all aspects up to 1400 m. This new snow is sitting on patchy surface hoar in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large and prone to failure with warm air temperatures and sunny skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the upper to mid snowpack, a surface hoar or facet layer buried mid-February is now 80 to 110 cm below the surface on sheltered northerly aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the widespread mid-December and late November weak layers are composed of a combination of crusts and sugary facets which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by the warm and sunny weather throughout the weekend or by a large trigger, such as a falling cornice.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20 cm of recent storm snow is settling rapidly with warm daytime temperatures.  Expect moist snow on solar aspects and on all aspects up to 1400 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large and prone to failure with warm air temperatures and sunny skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper/mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong.  The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread. The primary concern looking ahead is the potential of these deeper persistent weak layers becoming active by rapid warming of the snowpack through rising freezing levels and intense solar radiation. This is most likely to occur on south-facing slopes.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent new snow has settled and been redistributed by west and south winds. This new snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow on northerly aspects, and wind affected snow at upper elevations. The surface snow is reported to be moist on all aspects to 1800m and to mountain top on solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust that is roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. This layer has produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and some remotely triggered avalanches. Lots of the activity has been on buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. The snowpack is well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have produced cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent new snow has been redistributed by southerly winds at upper elevations. The new snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow on polar aspects, and wind affected snow at upper elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In northern parts of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in southern parts of the region (e.g. Coquihalla and Manning Park).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as the strong late-winter sun shines down upon them on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sustained southerly winds have redistributed the 20 cm of new snow and produced wind slabs in lee features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands. Expect to find a melt-freeze crust early mornings and moist snow with warming below around 1500 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, expect layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sustained southerly winds have produced wind slabs in lee features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and a surface hoar and sugary facet layer on sheltered, shady aspects.  Expect to find a melt-freeze crust or moist snow below around 1400 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">It is unlikely, but may be possible to trigger very large avalanches on facets at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas or with large triggers.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of snow from Thursday into Friday sits on sun crusts on solar aspects and well-settled storm snow on more northerly aspects. Several other sun crust layers may be found within the older storm snow on solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid to late February (down around 60-110 cm) are variably reactive, but both have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm brought 20-30 cm of new snow by Friday morning. This new snow overlies well-settled storm snow from regular snowfalls over the past couple of weeks. Although several layers of sun crust can be found within this older storm snow on solar aspects, recent snowpack tests have not been producing concerning results in the upper snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Friday's new snow has settled and been redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind and sits on mostly unconsolidated snow from last week and on a sun crust on south-facing slopes. On sheltered northerly aspects it may also be sitting on a layer of surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers have consistently been reactive in snowpack tests, suggesting they could potentially remain reactive to human triggers as well. Deeper weak layers that formed in January and December have gained strength and gone dormant at this time. They include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Extensive wind slabs in the alpine that reach down to isolated areas of treeline and cross loaded features. Moist snow on steep solar aspects and on all aspects up to 2200m that are not shaded. Good skiing was still found on shady aspects in the trees.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow at upper elevations accumulating Thursday and Friday has settled, bonded and/or been redistributed by southerly winds. This new snow sits on a sun crust or moist snow on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow on northerly aspects, and an overall well settled snowpack. Thursday's precipitation fell as rain below 1200m where the surface snow is either wet or presents as a crust. Cornices have formed on many alpine ridge lines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of snow from Thursday into Friday sits on sun crusts on solar aspects and well-settled storm snow on more northerly aspects. Several other sun crust layers may be found within the older storm snow on solar aspects. The main story, however, has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes over the past three days. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 60-110 cm) are variably reactive, but both have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10-15 cm of new snow from last week sits on sun crusts on solar aspects. A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) are variably reactive, but both have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist (see the Avalanche Summary above for more information).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures and daytime sun have produced moist snow on solar aspects into the alpine and moist snow on all aspects up to 1400 m.  On shady aspects at higher elevations, expect to find wind slabs in lee features and loose dry in sheltered features.  These snow surfaces are sitting on patchy surface hoar in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large and prone to failure with warm air temperatures and sunny skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the upper to mid snowpack, a surface hoar or facet layer buried mid-February is 80 to 110 cm below the surface on sheltered northerly aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the widespread mid-December and late November weak layers are composed of a combination of crusts and sugary facets which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by the warm and sunny weather throughout the weekend or by a large trigger, such as a falling cornice.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures and daytime sun have produced moist snow on solar aspects into the alpine and moist snow on all aspects up to around 1400 m.  On shady aspects at higher elevations, expect to find wind slabs in lee features and loose dry in sheltered features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large and prone to failure with warm air temperatures and sunny skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper/mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong.  The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread. The primary concern is the potential of these deeper persistent weak layers becoming active by rapid warming of the snowpack through rising freezing levels and intense solar radiation. This is most likely to occur on south-facing slopes.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent new snow has settled and been redistributed by west and south winds. The surface snow is reported to be moist on all aspects to 1800m and to mountain top on solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust that is roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. This layer has produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and some remotely triggered avalanches. Lots of the activity has been on buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. The snowpack is well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have produced cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent new snow has been redistributed by southerly winds at upper elevations and has now been affected by above freezing temperatures except for high (above 1800m) northerly facing slopes. The new snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow and possibly small surface hoar on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In northern parts of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in southern parts of the region i.e.Coquihalla and Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as the strong late-winter sun shines down upon them on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sustained southerly winds have redistributed the 20 cm of recent snow and produced wind slabs in lee features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.  Expect to find moist snow on solar aspects and on all aspects below 1300 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, expect layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm below the surface from mid- and late-February.  A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sustained southerly winds have produced wind slabs in lee features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and a surface hoar and sugary facet layer on sheltered, shady aspects.  Expect to find moist snow on solar aspects and on all aspects below around 1000 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">It is unlikely, but may be possible to trigger very large avalanches on facets at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas or with large triggers.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of snow from Thursday into Friday sits on sun crusts on solar aspects and well-settled storm snow on more northerly aspects. Several other sun crust layers may be found within the older storm snow on solar aspects. The main story, however, has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes over the past three days. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight.</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid to late February (down around 50-100 cm) are variably reactive, and have the potential to create surprisingly large avalanches if triggered. Initially, these interfaces were most reactive on solar aspects, where they present as buried sun crusts. However, persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects too, where surface hoar and/or facets exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The last snowfall was Thursday's storm, which brought 20-30 cm of new snow by Friday morning. Since then, isolated wind effect has created patchy wind slabs at higher elevations, but really, the main story has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This newer snow overlies well-settled older snow from regular snowfalls over the past couple of weeks. Although several layers of sun crust can be found within this older storm snow on solar aspects, recent snowpack tests have not been producing concerning results in the upper snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with forecast warming, a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow has settled and been redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind on upper shady aspects or has become moist or wet and/or refrozen (depending on the time of day) on slopes facing the sun. On sheltered northerly aspects it may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers have consistently been reactive in snowpack tests, suggesting they could potentially remain reactive to human triggers as well. Deeper weak layers that formed in January and December have gained strength and gone dormant at this time. They include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">We are expecting Tuesday to be the warmest day of the week with freezing levels rising to 3000m.  The avalanche hazard will deteriorate with the daytime heating.  Avoid being near large sun exposed slopes.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Wind slabs are present in the alpine and isolated areas at tree line.  Expect a melt freeze crust first thing in the morning and moist snow by mid day on solar aspects.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface snow in the past few days has undoubtedly become moist or wet on all aspects to mountain top with sunny skies and a high freezing level. Depending on the time of day, you may find the surface to be moist or be a frozen crust. The overall snowpack is well settled. Cornices formed or have grown more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. They become touchier as they grow in size, as the temperature rises, and/or as they are impacted by the strong late-winter sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main story over the past several days has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On north and east facing slopes, cold dry snow can still be found and it sits on a well-settled snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main story over the past several days has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight. </span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) have shown limited reactivity of late. Persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects, where surface hoar and/or facets exist (see the Avalanche Summary above for more information).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures and daytime sun have produced moist snow on all aspects.  With dropping freezing levels, the moist snow will harden into a melt-freeze crust.  On shady aspects at high elevations, lingering wind slabs in lee features and loose dry in sheltered features may still exist.  These snow surfaces are sitting on patchy surface hoar in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the widespread mid-December and late November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a falling cornice.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures and daytime sun have produced moist snow on all aspects.  With dropping freezing levels, the moist snow will harden into a melt-freeze crust.  On shady aspects at high elevations, lingering wind slabs in lee features and loose dry in sheltered features may still exist.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep.  The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">After a bout of light rain, light new snow amounts are expected to accumulate on the surface over Tuesday night and Wednesday. The new snow is accumulating above variable crust and moist snow that formed on the surface after days of warm temperatures and sunshine. The storm snow beneath this interface was previously redistributed by west and south winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust that is roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. This layer has produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and some remotely triggered avalanches. Lots of the activity has been on buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. The snowpack is well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">After a bout of light rain, light new snow amounts are expected to accumulate on the surface on Wednesday. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow is falling on older storm snow that was redistributed by southerly winds at upper elevations and affected by above freezing temperatures. Some high (above 1800m) north-facing slopes may have escaped the warming. The older storm snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow and possibly small surface hoar on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried in mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed recent snow and produced variable surfaces in alpine and treeline terrain, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands. Expect the snow surface to be a melt-freeze crust on solar aspects and on all aspects below 1400 m, up to 20 cm thick.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong south to easterly winds have produced wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and a surface hoar and sugary facet layer on sheltered, shady aspects. Expect the snow surface to be a melt-freeze crust on solar aspects and on all aspects below around 1000 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">It is unlikely, but may be possible to trigger very large avalanches on facets at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas or with large triggers.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main story over the past several days has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight.</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On north and east facing slopes, cold dry snow can still be found and it sits on a well-settled snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The last snowfall was Thursday's storm, which brought 20-30 cm of new snow by Friday morning. Since then, isolated wind effect has created patchy wind slabs at higher elevations, but really, the main story has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes over the past several days. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects, freezing to form a crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light rain transitioning to wet flurries should bring 5-10 cm of new snow by Wednesday afternoon. This new snow will accumulate on a variable surface of crust and moist snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow has settled and been redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind on upper shady aspects or has become moist or wet and/or refrozen (depending on the time of day) on slopes facing the sun. On sheltered northerly aspects it may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers have consistently been reactive in snowpack tests, suggesting they could potentially remain reactive to human triggers as well. Deeper weak layers that formed in January and December have gained strength and gone dormant at this time. They include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Another day of warm temps and strong solar input have helped settle the snowpack as a whole. Any steep, solar slope had moist snow by early afternoon and by mid afternoon some loose wet activity was noted. The polar aspects haven't felt the warm temps as much. The snow remains cold, and the layering structure that we're used to is still intact. At alpine &amp; treeline elevations, the windslabs still haven't had enough heat to bond together.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">After a period of light rain, new storm slabs are expected to form on the surface with up to 15 cm of new snow expected by Wednesday evening. The new snow will accumulate on a variable surface of wet snow and crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the surface, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. New cornices formed and old ones grew more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. Cornices become more unstable as the temperature rises and as they are loaded by rain and new snow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent sun and warm temperatures have resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects that is then freezing to form a crust overnight. North and east facing slopes still have cold dry snow that sits on a well-settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent sun and warm temperatures have resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects then freezing to form a crust overnight. Generally high elevation northerly aspects still have dry snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) have shown limited reactivity of late. Persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects, where surface hoar and/or facets exist. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will fall on a melt-freeze crust produced with the recent warm air temperatures, sun, and rain.  On shady aspects at high elevations, new snow may fall on lingering wind slabs in lee features and loose dry snow in sheltered features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will fall on a thick melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects from recent warm temperatures and rain, except for possibly high elevation north.  On shady aspects at high elevations, new snow will likely fall on lingering wind slabs in lee features and loose dry in sheltered features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep.  The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 10 cm of new snow accumulated over Tuesday night and Wednesday. The new snow has buried a surface of variable crust and moist snow, the product of days of warm temperatures and sunshine. The storm snow beneath this interface was previously redistributed by west and south winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust that is roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. This layer has produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and some remotely triggered avalanches. Lots of the activity has been on buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. The snowpack is well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">After a period of light rain, about 5 cm of new snow accumulated on Wednesday. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has buried older storm snow that was redistributed by southerly winds at upper elevations and affected by above freezing temperatures. Some high (above 1800m) north-facing slopes may have escaped the warming. The older storm snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow and possibly small surface hoar on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried in mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming and rain have melted and refrozen the snow surface.  Expect the snow surface to be a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for possibly high elevation north.  Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces in alpine and treeline terrain, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February.  A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warm temperatures and rain have produced a melt-freeze crust on most snow surfaces, except for possibly high elevation north.  New snow will fall onto this melt-freeze crust.  Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any previously available soft snow and produced wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and a surface hoar and sugary facet layer on sheltered, shady aspects.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and intense solar radiation over the past several days has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects that is then freezing to form a crust overnight. Cold dry snow can still be found on high elevation north and east facing slopes. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main story has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes over the past several days. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects and then freezing to form a crust overnight. High elevation northerly aspects still hold dry snow. Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of light rain and scattered flurries brought about 5 cm of new snow to the region on Wednesday. Where it arrived as snow, this precipitation has buried a variable surface of crust and moist snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow has settled and been redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind on upper shady aspects or has become moist or wet and/or refrozen (depending on the time of day) on slopes facing the sun. On sheltered north aspects it may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. They include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Freezing levels went very high today. One of the radio repeater sites recorded a temp of +4 by mid afternoon. Only high, true north aspects are escaping the heat and moist snow. Expect a widespread crust pretty much everywhere. It will be more pronounced at low elevations and/or solar aspects. The freeze thaw cycle is helping the upper snowpack consolidate and become stronger. The deeper layers are deep enough that they'll remain unchanged from the warming cycle. Cornices and wind lips have been collapsing lately as well.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">After a period of light rain, new snow has begun to accumulate on the surface. Up to 15 cm of new snow can be expected in the alpine and the depth and reactivity of new storm slabs will likely increase with elevation. The new snow is accumulating on a variable surface of wet snow and crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the surface, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. New cornices formed and old ones grew more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. Cornices become more unstable as the temperature rises and as they are loaded by rain and new snow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow now covers a crust on all but high, north and east facing slopes that still have cold dry snow above a well-settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow now covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects which still hold loose, dry snow above a generally well-settled snow pack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) have shown limited reactivity of late. Persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects, where surface hoar and/or facets exist. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable but overall small amounts of new snow fell at high elevations and rain fell at low elevations. This landed on a melt-freeze crust produced with the recent warm air temperatures, sun, and rain. The crust exists everywhere except for possibly on shady aspects at high elevations. Expect to find wet snow at low elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 15 to 25 mm of water equivalent fell in the region on Thursday. This would have fallen as snow at higher elevations (likely up to 25 cm of snow) and partially as rain at low elevations. This precipitation fell on a thick melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects from recent warm temperatures and rain, except for possibly higher elevations on north aspects.  The upper snowpack may still be wet at low elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 10 cm of new snow accumulated over Tuesday night and Wednesday. In most areas the new snow buried a surface of variable crust and moist snow, the product of days of warm temperatures and sunshine. On high elevation north aspects, the new snow may overlie dry, wind redistributed snow from last week's storms. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust found roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. A week ago this layer was producing whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and even some remotely triggered avalanches. Much of this activity was attributed to buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. This buried weak layer is a limited but lingering concern in a snowpack that is otherwise well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of new snow accumulated on Wednesday. In most areas, the new snow has buried a breakable crust formed after days of warm temperatures and sunshine. On higher elevation north aspects in the north of the region, is overlies a mix of about 20 cm of either low density or wind-redistributed storm snow from last week. This older storm snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow and possibly small surface hoar on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried in mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming and rain have melted and refrozen the snow surface at higher elevations.  Expect the snow surface to be wet or a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for possibly high elevation north.  Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces at high elevations, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features.  This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February.  A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces are found in the region.  In the east of the region, 5 to 10 cm of snow fell onto a melt-freeze crust from recent warm temperatures and rain.  In the west of the region, the melt-freeze crust is on the surface.  Wet snow may still exists at low elevations on all aspects.  High elevation north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features.  This overlies a surface hoar and sugary facet layer in sheltered locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow now covers a crust on all but high elevation north and east facing slopes where cold, dry snow sits above a well settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main story has been the sun's effect on south and west facing slopes over the past several days. Daytime heating has resulted in moist or wet snow on sunny aspects and then freezing to form a crust overnight. High elevation northerly aspects still hold dry snow. Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of light rain and wet flurries brought about 7 cm of new snow to the region on Wednesday. Where it arrived as snow, this precipitation buried a moist crust on solar aspects and a new layer of surface hoar on sheltered north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow was redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. On north aspects these older slabs may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar about 25-40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exists 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Well the forecasted storm did arrive giving us close to 25cm at treeline and above.  The storm came in warm and as a result the snow has been quick to settle and so far appears to be bonding poorly to the underlying snow surface.  Storm slabs should be expected while the snow settles that will be reactive to human traffic in steeper areas.  Winds are forecast to be calm, but we expect there to be some isolated windslabs in alpine areas along ridgelines.  This new snow will freshen up the skiing but the key layer to watch will be the bond with the underlying snow surface.  Move into bigger terrain slowly and evaluate this layer before committing to terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mid-week storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 metres have seen daily change through melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, lingering wind slabs will remain a concern over the near term.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. New cornices formed and old ones grew more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow (5-15 cm) covers a crust on all but high, north and east facing slopes that still have cold dry snow above a well-settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow now covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects which still hold loose, dry snow above a generally well-settled snow pack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) have shown limited reactivity of late. Persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects, where surface hoar and/or facets exist. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable but overall small amounts of new snow fell at high elevations and rain fell at low elevations. This landed on a melt-freeze crust produced with the recent warm air temperatures, sun, and rain. The crust exists everywhere except for possibly on shady aspects at high elevations. Expect to find wet snow at low elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 200-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 to 30 mm of water equivalent fell in the region on Thursday into Friday. This would have fallen as snow at higher elevations (up to 25 cm of snow) and partially as rain at low elevations. This precipitation fell on a thick melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects from recent warm temperatures and rain, except for possibly higher elevations on north aspects. The upper snowpack may still be wet at low elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A new crust exists on the surface on solar aspects at all elevations while new surface hoar has begun to form on shaded and sheltered higher elevations. Below the surface, a wind-redistributed 5-20 cm of new snow from a mid-week storm overlies a crust on all but high elevation north aspects, where it has buried dry, wind redistributed snow from last week's storms. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms buried a weak layer composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust found roughly 50-100 cm below the surface. A week ago this layer was producing whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and even some remotely triggered avalanches. Much of this activity was attributed to buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. This buried weak layer is a limited but lingering concern in a snowpack that is otherwise well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of new snow accumulated on Wednesday. In most areas, the new snow has buried a breakable crust formed after days of warm temperatures and sunshine. On higher elevation north aspects in the north of the region, is overlies a mix of about 20 cm of either low density or wind-redistributed storm snow from last week. This older storm snow sits on a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow and possibly small surface hoar on shady aspects. Recent reports have shown prolonged slab reactivity in areas in the north of the region where this surface hoar exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried in mid-February is about 40-50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in some snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming and rain have melted and refrozen the snow surface at higher elevations. Expect the snow surface to be wet or a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for possibly high elevation north. Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces at high elevations, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces are found in the region. In the east of the region, 5 to 10 cm of snow fell onto a melt-freeze crust from recent warm temperatures and rain. In the west of the region, the melt-freeze crust is on the surface. Wet snow may still exist at low elevations on all aspects. High elevation north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features. This overlies a surface hoar and sugary facet layer in sheltered locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow now covers a crust on all but high elevation north and east facing slopes where cold, dry snow sits above a well settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting (5-15 cm) of new snow covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects, which still hold dry snow. Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of light rain and wet flurries brought about 7 cm of new snow to the region on Wednesday. Where it arrived as snow, this precipitation buried a moist crust on solar aspects and a new layer of surface hoar on sheltered north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow was redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. On north aspects these older slabs may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar about 25-40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exists 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Almost 30cm of snow fell yesterday. This storm came in slightly different than expected. Firstly, the snowpack didn't have a chance to cool and refreeze before the snow flew. As a result, the new snow is sitting on a moist layer at low elevations, or a firm crust ay higher elevations. Secondly, there was some wind at higher elevations. Windslabs are present on all easterly aspects in the alpine and treeline has a widespread stormslab. The valley bottom snowpack is nearly isothermal(bottomless) and doesn't gain strength until 1950m. Lots of settlements and cracking in the weak snow areas. So far none of the deeper layers have woken up.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mid-week storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 metres have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, lingering wind slabs may remain reactive to human triggering over the near term.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. New cornices formed and old ones grew more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow (5-15 cm) covers a crust on all but high, north and east facing slopes that still have cold dry snow above a well-settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow (5-10 cm) now covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects which still hold loose, dry snow above a generally well-settled snow pack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A couple of layers buried in mid-late February (down around 40-100 cm) have shown limited reactivity of late. Persistent slabs have been triggered on shady aspects, where surface hoar and/or facets exist. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable but overall small amounts of new snow fell at high elevations and rain fell at low elevations on Thursday. The sun came out on Friday and Saturday, creating a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, but still leaving dry snow to be found on north aspects above 1300m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's snow fell on a previous melt-freeze crust produced by warm air temperatures, sun, and rain. The crust exists everywhere except for possibly shady aspects at high elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, or by humans traveling in thin-to-thick snowpack areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 to 30 mm of water equivalent fell in the region on Thursday into Friday. This would have fallen as snow at higher elevations (up to 25 cm of snow) and partially as rain at low elevations. This precipitation fell on a thick melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects from recent warm temperatures and rain, except for possibly higher elevations on north aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sunny conditions on Friday (and some locations on Saturday as well) created moist surface snow on sunny aspects, which froze to form a 2-5 cm thick crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A new crust exists on the surface on solar aspects at all elevations. High elevation Polar aspects (those facing north and east) continue to hold dry snow, this is also where new surface hoar has been spotted on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-February weak layer is composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust. This layer is found 50 to 100 cm below the surface. This interface previously produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and even some remotely triggered avalanches. Much of this activity was attributed to buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. This buried weak layer is a limited but lingering concern in a snowpack that is otherwise well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong early spring sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell Wednesday. In most areas the new snow buried a breakable crust formed by days of warm temperatures and sunshine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried weak layer down 20 to 40 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. The layer is composed of surface hoar on polar aspects and a sun crust on solar aspects. This layer continues to produce human triggered avalanches on polar aspects on the Duffey and has not been reported in the south of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming has melted and refrozen the snow surface at higher elevations. Expect the snow surface to be wet or a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for possibly high elevation north facing. Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces at high elevations, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces are found in the region. In the east of the region, 5 to 10 cm of snow fell late last week onto a melt-freeze crust from previous warm temperatures and rain. In the west of the region, the melt-freeze crust is on the surface. Wet snow may still exist at low elevations on all aspects. High elevation north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features. This overlies a surface hoar and sugary facet layer in sheltered locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of new snow (10-15 cm) now covers a crust on all but high elevation north and east facing slopes where cold, dry snow sits above a well settled snowpack. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting (10-20 cm) of new snow covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects, which still hold dry snow. Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of light rain and wet flurries brought about 7 cm of new snow to the region on Wednesday. Where it arrived as snow, this precipitation buried a moist crust on solar aspects and a new layer of surface hoar on sheltered north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow that fell March 8th and 9th was redistributed by predominantly west and southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. On north aspects these older slabs may be sitting on a layer of surface hoar about 25-40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exists 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 2cm of new snow fell overnight. This overlies a 2 to 5cm thick crust at all elevations and all aspects, except true north aspects. The snow beneath the curst is moist up to 2200m. The previously formed March 15th crust is buried on average 20cm and is also present on all slopes except high elevation northerly aspects. In the high Alpine forecasters suspect there is a thin wind slab in traditional lee and cross-loaded features due to recent moderate winds at upper elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mid-week storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 m have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, lingering wind slabs may remain reactive to human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong.  Cornices loom over many ridge lines. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises, especially when they are receiving direct sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of snow (5-15 cm) covers a crust on all but high, north facing slopes that still have cold dry snow above a well-settled snowpack. Below 1900 m a surface crust exists on all aspects and will likely breakdown with daytime warming becoming moist in the afternoon.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of snow (5-10 cm) covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects which still hold loose, dry snow above a generally well-settled snow pack. Below 1700 m, a surface crust exists on all aspects and will likely breakdown with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The last precipitation fell late last week, delivering snow to higher elevations and rain down low. Since then, the sun came out on Friday and Saturday, creating a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, but still leaving dry snow to be found on north aspects above 1300m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's snow fell on a previous melt-freeze crust produced by warm air temperatures, sun, and rain. The crust exists everywhere except for possibly shady aspects at high elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, or by humans traveling in thin-to-thick snowpack areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The last precipitation in this region was Thursday into Friday, with snow at higher elevations (up to 25 cm of snow) and rain at low elevations. This precipitation fell on a thick melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects from previous warm temperatures and rain, except for possibly higher elevations on north aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sunny conditions on Friday (and some locations on Saturday as well) created moist surface snow on sunny aspects, which froze to form a 2-5 cm thick crust overnight. Lingering wind slabs can still be found in the alpine, immediately behind ridge crests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A new crust exists on the surface on solar aspects at all elevations. High elevation polar aspects (those facing north and east) continue to hold dry snow, this is also where new surface hoar has been spotted on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-February weak layer is composed of soft facets, surface hoar, and/or crust. This layer is found 50 to 100 cm below the surface. This interface previously produced whumpfing, sudden results in snowpack tests, and even some remotely triggered avalanches. Much of this activity was attributed to buried surface hoar on north aspects at upper treeline elevations. This buried weak layer is a limited but lingering concern in a snowpack that is otherwise well settled and strong beneath this interface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong early spring sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell March 14th. In most areas the new snow buried a breakable crust formed by days of warm temperatures and sunshine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried weak layer down 20 to 40 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. The layer is composed of surface hoar on polar aspects and a sun crust on solar aspects. This layer continues to produce human triggered avalanches on polar aspects on the Duffey and has not been reported in the south of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming has melted and refrozen the snow surface on sunny aspects. Expect the snow surface to be wet or a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for north facing slopes above 1100-1300m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week, strong easterly to southerly winds redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces at high elevations, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces are found in the region. In the east of the region, 5 to 10 cm of snow fell late last week onto a melt-freeze crust from previous warm temperatures and rain. In the west of the region, the melt-freeze crust is on the surface. Wet snow may still exist at low elevations on all aspects. High elevation north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features. This overlies a surface hoar and sugary facet layer in sheltered locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting of snow (5-20 cm) covers a crust on all but high elevation north facing slopes where cold, dry snow sits above a well settled snowpack. Below 1800 m a surface crust existing on all aspects and will likely breakdown with daytime warming becoming moist in the afternoon.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A light dusting (5-15 cm) of snow covers a crust on all but high elevation northerly aspects, which still hold dry snow. Below 1800 m, a supportive surface crusts exists on all aspects and will likely breakdown with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust has formed on all solar aspects. Fresh surface hoar has begun to form on polar aspects (those that face north and east) near ridgetop.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 5 cm of snow is between the surface and another interface that mirrors the surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow that fell March 8th/9th was redistributed by west/southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. These wind slabs rest on a layer of surface surface hoar about 25 to 40 cm below the surface which has not been recently reactive.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50 to 100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">10-15cm of new snow has fallen in the past 24hrs with very little wind affect noted. This snow is overlying a thin breakable temperature crust that formed on Friday (March 16th) on solar aspects and in lower elevations such as valley floors. On northern aspects the snow is still remaining dry with only isolated windslabs being found in alpine areas. If you are travelling on more solar aspects, ne sure to dig down and check the bond between this most recent snow and the underlying crusts. Two main crusts are being noted the March 16th crust (down 15-20cm) and the March 7th crust down (30-40cm).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 m have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, stubborn old wind slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices loom over many ridge lines. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises, especially when they are receiving direct sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (10-20 cm) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, the recent snow overlies older dry snow above a well-settled snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (5-15 cm each) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, Sunday's snowfall buried a layer of surface hoar now found 10-15 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1700 m, only minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-12cm of new snow fell Sunday overnight into Monday. This new snow sits on a wide variety of old surfaces: a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, or surface hoar (up to 30mm in size) and/or dry snow on north aspects above 1500-1800m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, or by humans traveling in thin-to-thick snowpack areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">14-24 cm of low density snow fell Sunday overnight into Monday. This new snow sits on a wide variety of old surfaces: a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, some old wind slabs in the alpine near ridge crests and predominantly dry snow or surface hoar (up to 20mm in size) on north aspects above 1500-1800m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A new crust exists on the surface on solar aspects at all elevations. High elevation polar aspects (those facing north and east) continue to hold dry snow, this is also where new surface hoar has been spotted on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50 to 100 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong early spring sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell March 14th. In most areas the new snow buried a breakable crust formed by days of warm temperatures and sunshine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried weak layer down 20 to 40 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. The layer is composed of surface hoar on polar aspects and a sun crust on solar aspects. This layer continues to produce human triggered avalanches on polar aspects on the Duffey and has not been reported in the south of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent warming has melted and refrozen the snow surface on sunny aspects. The new snow on Tuesday could be falling on wet snow down low, a melt-freeze crust on south-west aspects, wind slabs higher up, or even preserved powder on north facing slopes above 1100-1300m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week, strong easterly to southerly winds redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces at high elevations, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. On March 9th, 5 to 20 mm surface hoar or smaller facets (on sheltered, shady aspects) were buried by the last significant snowfall. This layer is still active in some areas (see Avalanche Summary above).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces are found in the region. In the east of the region, 5 to 10 cm of snow fell late last week onto a melt-freeze crust from previous warm temperatures and rain. In the west of the region, the melt-freeze crust is on the surface. Wet snow may still exist at low elevations on all aspects. High elevation north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features. This overlies a surface hoar and sugary facet layer in sheltered locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 25 cm deep. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 25 cm deep. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust has formed on all solar aspects. Fresh surface hoar has begun to form on polar aspects (those that face north and east) near ridgetop.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 5 cm of snow is between the surface and another interface that mirrors the surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow that fell March 8th/9th was redistributed by west/southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. These wind slabs rest on a layer of surface surface hoar about 25 to 40 cm below the surface which has not been recently reactive.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50 to 100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">New snow amounts are highly variable depending on drainage and elevation, with some areas receiving as much as 20cm of low density in the past 24 hours. This new snow sluffs easily in steep terrain in the Alpine on all aspects, and is running further on aspects that have a buried crust under the recent snow. Multiple buried sun or melt-freeze crusts now exist on most aspects with only sheltered northerly aspects escaping this condition. Variable wind slab conditions in upper Alpine on lee and cross-loaded features, but slab avalanche activity has tapered off in the past 48hrs.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 m have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, stubborn old wind slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices loom over many ridge lines. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises, especially when they are receiving direct sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (10-20 cm) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, the recent snow has buried</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 30 cm deep. Mainly small loose dry releases have been observed on the shallowest of these layers (down about 10cm), while the deepest (down 30 cm) has been the failure plane in a few slab avalanches in adjacent regions. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (5-15 cm each) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, Sunday's snowfall buried a layer of surface hoar now found 10-15 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1700 m, only minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 12 cm of new snow fell on Monday. This new may have a poor bond to a wide variety of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, or surface hoar (up to 30mm in size) and/or dry snow on north aspects above 1500-1800m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers have been dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, or by humans traveling in thin-to-thick snowpack areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 25 cm of low density snow fell Sunday overnight into Monday, combined with last weeks snow, this brings the total amount 30-40 cm. This new snow sits on a wide variety of old surfaces: a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, isolated old wind slab in the alpine near ridge crests and predominantly dry snow or surface hoar (up to 20mm in size) on north aspects above 1500-1800m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A new crust exists on the surface on solar aspects at all elevations. High elevation polar aspects (those facing north and east) continue to hold dry snow, this is also where trophy surface hoar up to 15 mm in size has spotted on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50 to 100 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong early spring sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell March 14th. In most areas the new snow buried a breakable crust formed by days of warm temperatures and sunshine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried weak layer down 20 to 40 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. The layer is composed of surface hoar on polar aspects and a sun crust on solar aspects. This layer continues to produce human triggered avalanches on polar aspects on the Duffey and has not been reported in the south of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have created cornices on many alpine ridgelines. They become touchier as daily temperatures rise and with the strong late winter sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack consists of a wide variety of snow surfaces, including up to 20 cm of new snow at higher elevations, pockets of wind slab, a melt-freeze crust on south-west aspects an wet snow down low, On March 9th, surface hoar and/or smaller facets (on sheltered, shady aspects) were buried by the last significant snowfall down 10-25 cm. This layer was reactive to skier triggers in some areas on Monday. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces exist including dry snow, surface hoar, crusts and moist snow at lower elevations. High elevation, north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features which sit on surface hoar and/ or a sugary facet layer found down 10-30 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 30 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 25 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust has formed on all solar aspects. Fresh surface hoar has begun to form on polar aspects (those that face north and east) near ridgetop.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 5 cm of snow is between the surface and another interface that mirrors the surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow that fell March 8th/9th was redistributed by west/southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. These wind slabs rest on a layer of surface surface hoar about 25 to 40 cm below the surface which has not been recently reactive.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50 to 100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Flurries today gave another 5-10cm of new snow. Like the other storms, this snow is settling very fast. The Mar15th crust is down 20-30 with an improving bond. The top 50cm of the snowpack varies greatly depending on aspect and elevation. Solar aspects and areas below 2100m have a series of crusts, while the polar aspects and high areas are much drier. In both cases, the snowpack is well settled and well bonded. Ski quality on the other hand is very different from area to area. Deeper down, the persistent layers have healed up with the Dec15th still apparent, but not reacting in tests. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 m have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, stubborn old wind slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices loom over many ridge lines. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises, especially when they are receiving direct sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (10-20 cm) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, the recent snow has buried</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 40 cm deep. Mainly small loose dry releases have been observed on the shallowest of these layers (down about 15cm), while the deepest (down 40 cm) has been the failure plane in a few slab avalanches. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (5-15 cm each) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, Sunday's snowfall buried a layer of surface hoar now found 10-15 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1700 m, only minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Forecast new snow will likely have a poor bond to the plethora of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, or surface hoar on north aspects above 1500 m. Isolated wind slabs just below ridgetop exist on northeasterly aspects and moist snow surfaces are found below 1500 m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent storm snow accumulations total 30-40 cm of low density fluff. Forecast snow for Thursday will add to these totals and likely have a poor bond to the underlying snow surfaces which consist of crusts, dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 1500 m. Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) a weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February may exist. This interface is dormant, but could wake up with a heavy load like a cornice fall, human triggers from a thin, shallow area on the slope or a rapid warm up. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Digging towards the bottom of the snowpack youll find a combination of crusts and facets that are reportedly widespread. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow and rain Thursday will fall on a mix of moist grains, crusts, surface facets and surface hoar. The crust is widespread on solar aspects at all elevations. Both treeline and alpine elevations facing north and east have significant surface hoar and near surface facet development. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust which would be particularity problematic. The storms transition from warm to cold should be largely copacetic for our snowpack, but it is expected to generate touchy storm slabs at upper elevations for the short term.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50 to 100 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable winds in the past month have built up cornices on many ridgelines. They will become touchier as daily temperatures rise and when they are subject to the strong early spring sun on clear days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow Thursday will fall on a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects. Low elevation polar aspects also have a crust, but treeline and alpine elevations feature a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried surface hoar interface down 20 to 40 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. This layer has recently produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region as detailed above. This layer has not been reactive in the south of the region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 50 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack consists of a wide variety of snow surfaces including pockets of wind slab, a melt-freeze crust on south-west aspects an wet snow down low, On March 9th, surface hoar and/or smaller facets (on sheltered, shady aspects) were buried by the last significant snowfall down 10-25 cm. The forecast storm snow over the next 2 days will likely have a poor bond to these older snow surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snow surfaces exist including dry snow, surface hoar, crusts and moist snow at lower elevations. High elevation, north aspects may have lingering wind slabs in immediate lee features which sit on surface hoar and/ or a sugary facet layer found down 10-30 cm. The forecast storm snow over the next 2 days will likely have a poor bond to these older snow surfaces. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 30 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 25 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow Thursday will fall on a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects. Low elevation polar aspects also have a crust, but treeline and alpine elevations feature a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 5 cm of snow is between the surface and another interface that mirrors the surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow that fell March 8th/9th was redistributed by west/southwest wind, forming wind slabs at high elevations. These wind slabs rest on a layer of surface surface hoar about 25 to 40 cm below the surface which has not been recently reactive.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mix of weak layers exist 50 to 100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on shady aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers are expected to have gained strength from recent cycles of warming and cooling. Like other deeper weak layers that formed in January and December, they are considered dormant at this time. These deeper layers include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Convective flurries over the past 24hrs have given us an additional 5cm of snow that has fallen with very little wind.  Over the past few days 20-25cm of new snow has fallen that has had generally very light winds.  Isolated windslabs are being encountered in Alpine areas up to 40cm thick.  We are also still having concerns regarding thin weak areas where the basal areas may still be reactive.  Despite it being spring, keep a keen eye on snowpack depths as you travel.  Heat plays a large role at this time of year, solar aspects and quality of overnight freeze are critical things to be thinking of so pay attention to these concepts as you travel.&nbsp; The best skiing is being found on polar aspects where there are no crusts.&nbsp; </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow and rain Thursday will fall on a mix of moist grains, crusts and potentially surface hoar/facets on high elevation polar (north and east) aspects.  The storms transition from warm to cold should be largely copacetic for our snowpack, but it does have potential to generate touchy storm slabs at upper elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm brought up to 15 cm of new snow to the alpine while rain saturated the upper snowpack at treeline and below. Surface conditions on solar aspects and below about 1500 m have been affected by daily melt-freeze cycles. In the limited alpine terrain where the recent precipitation fell as snow, stubborn old wind slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices loom over many ridge lines. Cornices become more unstable during the day as the temperature rises, especially when they are receiving direct sun.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (10-20 cm) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, the recent snow has buried</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 40 cm deep. Mainly small loose dry releases have been observed on the shallowest of these layers (down about 15cm), while the deepest (down 40 cm) has been the failure plane in a few slab avalanches. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls (5-15 cm each) have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, Sunday's snowfall buried a layer of surface hoar now found 10-15 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1700 m, only minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow will likely have a poor bond to the plethora of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m and moist snow surfaces below 1600 m. Isolated wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 5 cm of new snow adds to the 30 cm from earlier this week. Forecast snow for Friday will add to these totals and likely have a poor bond to the underlying snow surfaces which consist of crusts, dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 1500 m. </span><span class="s_AA239A9B"><br /></span><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) a weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February may exist. This interface is dormant, but could wake up with a heavy load like a cornice fall, human triggers from a thin, shallow area on the slope or a rapid warm up. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Digging towards the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that are reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow is sitting on a mix of moist grains, crusts, surface facets and surface hoar. The crust is widespread on solar aspects at all elevations. Both treeline and alpine elevations facing north and east have significant surface hoar and near surface facet development. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust which would be particularity problematic. The storms transition from warm to cold should be good for our snowpack in the long term, but the storm is expected to continue to generate touchy storm slabs. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of wind distributed snow fell last week which came to rest on the mid-March crust on all but high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50 to 100 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow is sitting on a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects. Low elevation polar aspects also have a crust, but treeline and alpine elevations feature a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky buried surface hoar interface down 20 to 50 cm below the surface. The layer is widespread in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. This layer has recently produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region as detailed above. This layer has not been reactive in the south of the region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 60 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is well settled in the south of the region around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow overlies a variety of buried snow surfaces including pockets of wind slab, a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and wet snow down low. On March 9th, surface hoar and/or facets (on sheltered, shady aspects) were buried by the last significant snowfall down 10-25 cm. The new snow will likely have a poor bond to the old snow surfaces.</span><span class="s_AA239A9B"><br /></span><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 15 cm of new snow with another 10-15 cm in the forecast is expected overnight. The new snow will likely have a poor bond to the underlying snow surface which consists of surface hoar on northerly aspects in higher elevation bands and firm melt-freeze crusts. <br />In the mid-pack, a surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer still has the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 30 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent light snowfalls have been followed by warm daytime temperatures and glimpses of sun, setting up a couple of thin storm snow layers over temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. On shaded aspects at higher elevations, these snowfalls have buried and preserved a couple of surface hoar layers now found up to 25 cm deep. The deepest of these surface hoar layers has been the failure plane in several recent slab avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, minimal accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. This crust will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist in the afternoon. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow has fallen as of Thursday afternoon with moderate southeast wind. This snow sits on a mixture of weak grains including a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and low elevation polar aspects. On polar aspects at and above treeline the new storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. The mid March interface is down 10 to 15 cm and it mirrors the old surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early March interface is 25 to 40 cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those listed above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into consecutive warm nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Convective flurries continued overnight and throughout the day giving us another 5cm of snow.  This is the overall theme at this time of year, convective flurries giving us 5-10cm every few days.  Crusts dominate the solar aspects and make the skiing challenging while northern aspects are holding dry snow right down to the valley floor.  Pockets of windslabs should be expected along ridgelines in the alpine as well as cornices are large and looming overhead of many slopes right now.  Keep an eye on solar radiation.  If the sun comes out, solar aspects will det'r quickly!  Start earlier than normal</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 mm of rain transitioning to up to 20 cm of snow has fallen as of Thursday afternoon with wind out of the southeast.&nbsp; This snow sits on a mixture of weak grains including a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and low elevation polar aspects. On polar aspects at and above treeline the new storm snow may be burying facets and surface hoar.&nbsp; The storms transition from warm to cold should be great for our snowpack in the long term, but fresh touchy storm slabs are expected to continue to build Thursday night and Friday. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong to extreme southerly winds brought a wind-affected 10-20 cm of new snow to the region over Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. Some potential exists for shallower storm slab avalanches to 'step down' to these deeper layers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 5-15 cm of new snow to the region over Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of new snow will initially have a poor bond to the plethora of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m and moist snow surfaces below 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 15 cm of new snow, accompanied by strong easterly winds in the beginning of the storm and now switching to the southwest are forming wind slabs on a variety of aspects. Forecast snow for Saturday will add to these totals and may initially have a poor bond to the underlying old snow surfaces which consist of crusts up to 2100 m and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Snowpack testing on the March 15th surface hoar interface (down 20-40 cm on sheltered North aspects) has shown no significant results in the Barnes area. The mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) a surface hoar buried mid-February may exist. This interface is dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Digging towards the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that are reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow delivered 10 to 40 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. Storm slabs on immediate lee features at ridgeline may be up to 70 cm in depth. These slabs rest on a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and Alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust which would be particularity problematic. The storms transition from warm to cold should be good for our snowpack in the long term, but this weekend touchy storm slabs are likely widespread.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust from mid-March is now down 15 to 60 cm below the surface. This crust is prevalent everywhere with the exception of high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow (10- 20 cm) is sitting on a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects. Low elevation polar aspects also have a crust, but treeline and alpine elevations feature a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a tricky surface hoar interface buried early March is down 30 to 70 cm below the surface. The layer exists in the alpine and at treeline, but it is not everywhere. This layer has recently produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region as detailed above. This layer has not been reactive in the south of the region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 50 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, a dusting of new snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 30 cm of new snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces including the March 9th and 19th surface hoar existing on high northerly aspects and a melt-freeze crust basically on all aspects at treeline and below. The new storm snow will initially have a poor bond to these buried interfaces. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker and likely more reactive slabs. Forecast weekend winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of new snow brings the recent storm snow up to 35 cm in some locations. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker slabs. Forecast winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. The new snow will likely have a poor bond initially to the underlying snow surfaces which consist of surface hoar (buried March 9th and 19th) on northerly aspects in higher elevation bands and firm melt-freeze crusts at treeline and below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the mid-pack, a surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer is currently unreactive, however, may have the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 5-15 cm of new snow to the region over Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. The deepest of these surface hoar layers was the failure plane in several slab avalanches this week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 5-15 cm of new snow to the region over Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface. The deepest of these surface hoar layers was the failure plane in several slab avalanches earlier this week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 - 15 cm of new snow has fallen with moderate southeast wind. This snow sits on a mixture of weak grains including a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the new storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. The mid March interface is down 20 to 30 cm and it resembles the old surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early March interface is 35 to 50 cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those listed above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Flurries are still adding dribs &amp; drabs of new snow.  Winds picked up last night and today which created new windslabs on N-S aspects. These are mostly in the alpine, but may extend to exposed treeline areas. The deeper crusts are still on our radar as the bond appears to be variable. Dig and assess the crust/surface snow interface if traveling on solar aspects.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 45 mm of precipitation fell Thursday into early Friday morning. Rain transitioned to snow above 1000 m Thursday morning which produced about 25 cm of snow with light to moderate east/southeast wind. The warm to cold nature of the storm has allowed the new snow to bond well to the old surface up to treeline, but little is currently known about the alpine. The alpine likely saw very little if any rain and more snow/wind. Up high the new snow is thought to be sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below any recent snow accumulations, the overall snowpack is well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong to extreme southerly winds brought a wind-affected 15-25 cm of new snow since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. Some potential exists for shallower slab avalanches to 'step down' to these deeper layers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 10-20 cm of new snow to the region since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of recent storm snow will initially have a poor bond to the plethora of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m, surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 35 cm of new snow, accompanied by strong easterly winds in the beginning of the storm and now switching to the southwest are forming wind slabs on a variety of aspects. Forecast snow for Saturday will add to these totals and may initially have a poor bond to the underlying old snow surfaces which consist of crusts up to 2100 m and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Snowpack testing on the March 15th surface hoar interface (down 20-40 cm on sheltered North aspects) has shown no significant results in the Barnes area. The mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) a surface hoar buried mid-February may exist. This interface is dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Digging towards the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that are reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow delivered 20 to 50 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. Storm slabs on immediate lee features at ridgeline may be up to 60 cm in depth. These slabs rest on a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust which would be particularity problematic. The storms transition from warm to cold should be good for our snowpack in the long term.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust from mid-March is now down 40 to 60 cm below the surface. This crust is prevalent everywhere with the exception of high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow (10- 20 cm) is sitting on a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects. Low elevation polar aspects also have a crust, but treeline and alpine elevations feature a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar interface buried early March that is about 30 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has recently produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region but has not been reactive in the south of the region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 40 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the recent storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 30 cm of new snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces including the March 9th and 19th surface hoar existing on high northerly aspects and a melt-freeze crust basically on all aspects at treeline and below. The new storm snow will initially have a poor bond to these buried interfaces and lower elevation snow will likely become moist on Sunday. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker and likely more reactive slabs. Forecast weekend winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north. These buried layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of new storm snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces including the March 9th and 19th surface hoar existing on high northerly aspects and a melt-freeze crust basically on all aspects at treeline and below. The new storm snow will initially have a poor bond to these buried interfaces. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker and likely more reactive slabs. Forecast weekend winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-18cm of new snow fell on Thursday into Friday. Winds were moderate to strong from the south / east, transporting snow in the alpine and upper tree line and creating reactive wind slabs on immediate lee (down wind) features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found at approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. The deepest of these surface hoar layers was the failure plane in several slab avalanches this week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 5-15 cm of new snow to the region since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface. The deepest of these surface hoar layers was the failure plane in several slab avalanches earlier this week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 - 50 cm of new snow has fallen with moderate to strong southeast to southwest wind. This snow sits on a mixture of weak grains including a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the new storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. The mid March interface is down 20 to 40 cm and it resembles the old surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early March interface is 40 to 60 cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those listed above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">5-10cm new snow fell across the region overnight with very little wind affect.  This new snow now blankets the previous windslabs that formed earlier in the week.  These windslabs are easy to find in alpine terrain and are 20-40cm thick.  What natural avalanche activity we did see on Friday showed these windslabs failing mainly on N and E aspects in steeper terrain or in unsupported features.  Field test were showing an easy to moderate sheer at the interface of the windslabs with the underlying snow.  Be heads up in steeper areas  and choose supported terrain. Light snow was starting as we left.  The best skiing will be on N aspects due to crusts on solar aspects. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 45 mm of precipitation has fallen since Thursday. Rain transitioned to snow above 1000 m Thursday morning which produced about 25 cm of snow with light to moderate east/southeast wind. The warm to cold nature of the storm has allowed the new snow to bond well to the old surface up to treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The alpine likely saw very little if any rain and more snow/wind. Up high the new snow is likely sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong to extreme southerly winds brought a wind-affected 15-25 cm of new snow since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. Some potential exists for shallower slab avalanches to 'step down' to these deeper layers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 10-20 cm of new snow to the region since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow will initially have a poor bond to the plethora of old snow surfaces including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m, surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 35 cm of new snow fell over the region over the past few days. This new snow was initially redistributed by strong easterly winds in the beginning of the storm before winds switched to the southwest. As a result, and with southwest winds forecast to increase again, wind slabs are now likely to be found on a variety of aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The recent snow will take some time to form a reliable bond to the old snow surface, which consist of crusts up to 2100 metres and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Recent snowpack testing on the March 15th surface hoar interface (down 20-40 cm on sheltered north aspects) has shown no significant results in the Barnes area. Below this interface the mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) a surface hoar buried in mid-February may exist. This interface is considered dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Digging towards the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that are reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday and Friday's storm snow delivered 20 to 50 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. Storm slabs on immediate lee features at ridgeline may be up to 60 cm in depth. These slabs rest on a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust which would be particularity problematic. The storms transition from warm to cold should be good for our snowpack in the long term.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A crust from mid-March is now down 40 to 60 cm below the surface. This crust is prevalent everywhere with the exception of high elevation north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The past week of stormy weather brought 30-60 cm of new snow to the region. Strong easterly winds initially redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects, forming thick wind slabs. More recent and forecast strong southwest winds are likely to continue building wind slabs on north through east aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the wind effect, the new snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces, including a layer of surface hoar existing on high shaded aspects as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north. These buried layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of new storm snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces including the March 9th and 19th surface hoar existing on high northerly aspects and a melt-freeze crust basically on all aspects at treeline and below. The new storm snow will initially have a poor bond to these buried interfaces. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker and likely more reactive slabs. Forecast weekend winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-18cm of new snow fell on Thursday into Friday. Winds were moderate to strong from the south / east, transporting snow in the alpine and upper tree line, creating reactive wind slabs on immediate lee (down wind) features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported between these storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 30 and 50 cm below the surface. The deepest of these surface hoar layers was the failure plane in several slab avalanches last week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective snowfall coupled with strong southerly winds brought a wind-affected 15-30 cm of new snow to the region since Thursday night. The new snow has buried a couple of recent layers of storm snow or wind slabs up high, or sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below about 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 - 40 cm of new snow has fallen with moderate to strong southeast to southwest wind. This snow sits on a mixture of weak grains including a slippery crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the new storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. The mid March interface is down 30 to 60 cm and it resembles the old surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early March interface is 50 to 80 cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those listed above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">10-20cm of snow has fallen over the past 48hrs with NW winds at higher elevations creating new thin windslabs as well as burying the previous ones.  These windslabs are easy to find in alpine terrain and are 20-40cm thick. What natural avalanche activity we did see on before the weekend showed these windslabs failing mainly on N and E aspects in steeper terrain or in unsupported features. Field test were showing an easy to moderate sheer at the interface of the windslabs with the underlying snow. Be heads up in steeper areas and choose supported terrain.  The best skiing will be on N aspects due to crusts on solar aspects. Despite cooler temperatures, when the sun does come out it has lots of punch so be thinking about the affects of solar radiation later in the day. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 25-35 cm of snow has fallen on the North Shore mountains since Thursday with light to moderate east/southeast wind. The warm to cold nature of the storm has allowed this new snow to bond well to the old surface up to treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish saw more snow (40-60 cm) and wind. In these areas the new snow is likely sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow fall amounts into Monday range from 7-11 cm. Winds have been moderate from the east through southwest, creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs from late last week (thanks to south / east winds) remained reactive throughout the weekend on immediate lee features and steep roll-overs in exposed locations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Isolated pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 30-45 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and above, most of the region's upper snowpack consists of a wind-affected 10-20 cm layer of snow. This sits on previous layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar layers have been reported between these old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper quickly with elevation and below about 1900 m, reduced accumulations sit on a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been showing a poor bond to the old snow surfaces it has buried, including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 35 cm of new snow fell over the region over the past few days. This new snow was initially redistributed by strong easterly winds before winds switched to the southwest. As a result, wind slabs are now likely to be found on a variety of aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind effect, this recent snow will take some time to form a reliable bond to the old snow surface, which consist of crusts up to 2100 metres and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Below this layer the mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) the surface hoar buried in mid-February is now considered dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that is reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 5-10 cm of storm snow with strong southerly wind Sunday night adds to last week's storm which delivered 20 to 50 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. This storm snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently, but it does continue to produce resistant planar results in snowpack tests. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 10-15 cm of snow Sunday night adds to last week's storm snow bringing totals to 20-40 cm of recent storm snow that sits on a crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, polar aspects (those that face north and east) are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar interface buried early March that is about 30-50 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 60 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the recent storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Ongoing snowfall is building new storm slabs on the surface under the influence of strong southwest winds at high elevations. The new snow is adding to existing storm totals of 40-60 cm from the past week. Beneath the surface wind effect, the new snow overlies a plethora of old snow surfaces, including a layer of surface hoar existing on high shaded aspects as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north. These buried layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of storm snow now overlies a range of old snow surfaces, including two layers of surface hoar existing on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below. This storm snow has been showing a poor bond to the shallowest of these buried weak layers, down about 40cm. Recent strong winds have redistributed the new snow into thicker and likely more reactive wind slabs on a range of aspects wind-exposed terrain. Southwest winds have been the most recent.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow fall amounts into Monday range from 5-11 cm. Winds have been moderate south/east, creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) slopes.</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs from late last week (thanks to south / east winds) remained reactive throughout the weekend on immediate lee features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Isolated pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 25-40 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow fall amounts into Monday vary widely (from 3-22cm) throughout the region, with 7-12cm being the average. Winds, however, have been moderate to strong from the south/west, creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week saw a wind-affected 15-30 cm of new snow, which sits on a variety of snow surfaces: older storm snow or wind slabs up high, or sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts have been tapering with elevation and below about 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 - 40 cm of recent storm sits on a mixture of weak grains including a crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. The mid March interface is down 30 to 60 cm and it resembles the old surface; crust on solar, surface hoar on high elevation north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early March interface is 50 to 80 cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those listed above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">As much as 20cm of recent snow has fallen together with strong to extreme westerly winds. Field observations were limited today but it is obvious that wind slabs are widespread in the Alpine. The unknown at the moment is the distribution and extent of wind slabs at Treeline. It is expected that lee and cross-loaded features at ridge-crest will have wind slab formations, so be cautious with these terrain features. Cornices seem to have grown in the past 24 hours. On solar aspects several buried crusts persist and seem to be reactive for slab avalanches in steep and unsupported terrain. Despite cooler temperatures, when the sun does come out it has lots of punch so be thinking about the effects of solar radiation later in the day. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The North Shore mountains received 25-30 cm overnight on Sunday and another 10-15 cm throughout the day on Monday, bringing storm snow totals to around 60-80 cm since last Thursday which is generally bonded well to the old surface up to treeline elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish have likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind. In these areas the storm snow is likely sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New amounts of (heavy) snow varied widely on Tuesday, ranging from 7 to 36 cm (with an average of about 17cm). Winds have been moderate to strong southerly with gusts to 70 Km/hr reported. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs from late last week (thanks to south / east winds) remained reactive throughout the weekend on immediate lee features and steep roll-overs in exposed locations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Isolated pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 50-70 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Some areas in the north of the region received up to 15 cm of new snow on Tuesday (most areas had only a trace). Winds were gusting strong from the south / west, building fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and above, most of the region's upper snowpack consists of a wind-affected 10-20 cm layer of snow. This sits on previous layers of storm snow that are separated by temperature and sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar layers have been reported between these old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 20 and 40 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper quickly with elevation and below about 1900 m, reduced accumulations sit on a supportive crust on all aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February (down 40 -100 cm deep) as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been showing a poor bond to the old snow surfaces it has buried, including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. Natural cornice falls triggering large avalanches has been a trend for the past few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 35 cm of new snow fell over the region on the weekend. This new snow was initially redistributed by strong easterly winds before winds switched to the southwest. As a result, a mix of old and new wind slabs can now be found on a variety of aspects and at lower elevations as well.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind effect, this recent snow has buried and old snow surface that consists of crusts up to 2100 metres and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Below this layer the mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) the surface hoar buried in mid-February is now considered dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that is reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 5-10 cm of storm snow with strong southerly wind Sunday night adds to last week's storm which delivered 20 to 50 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. This storm snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 5-10 cm of snow Sunday night adds to last week's storm snow bringing totals to 20-40 cm of recent storm snow that sits on a crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, north and east aspects are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar layer buried early March that is about 30-50 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week. Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 60 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the recent storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather brought 50-80 cm of new snow to the region over the past week. These accumulations taper quickly toward lower elevations as well as moving inland from the coast. At high elevations, strong southwest winds have been promoting the formation of storm and wind slabs. Beneath the wind effect, the storm snow overlies old snow surfaces that include a layer of surface hoar existing on high shaded aspects as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below. The bond of our storm snow to this layer remains a concern, with the consequences of shallower storm slabs or wind slabs 'stepping down' to this deeply buried interface currently being very high.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north. These buried layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of storm snow now overlies a range of old snow surfaces, including two layers of surface hoar existing on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below. This storm snow has been showing a poor bond to the shallowest of these buried weak layers, down about 40cm. Recent strong winds have redistributed the new snow into thicker and likely more reactive wind slabs on a range of aspects wind-exposed terrain. Southwest winds have been the most recent.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New amounts of (heavy) snow varied widely on Tuesday, ranging from 18 to 38 cm. Winds have been moderate to strong from the south / east.</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs from late last week (thanks to south / east winds) remained reactive throughout the weekend on immediate lee features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Isolated pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 45-70 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1800 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There were some incredible amounts of (heavy) new snow on Tuesday, ranging from 18 to 46 cm. Winds have been moderate to strong from the south / west. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week saw a wind-affected 15-30 cm of new snow, which sits on a variety of snow surfaces: older storm snow or wind slabs up high, or sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and might now be found at approximately 50 and 80 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators. They are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30-40 cm of recent snow sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. A layer buried mid March is down 30 to 60cm is crust on solar aspects and surface hoar on high elevation north. A layer buried early March is 50 to 80cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those just described.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Wind and flurries continue to join forces and create new windslabs in the alpine and exposed treeline terrain. These slabs have been building for the past few days and are getting thicker, more widespread and more sensitive. Natural activity indicates the slabs are up to 70cm thick in wind prone areas. The slabs rest on a variety of surfaces, most of which are aspect or elevation dependant. The march 15 crust is the most concerning buried layer. It is widespread on any solar aspect. The other problematic buried layers are the interfaces between the windslabs themselves. Typically these &quot;heal&quot; up quickly, but we're finding that once one &quot;heals&quot; and goes away, it is replaced with another shallower one.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region has received 60-80cm of new snow since last Thursday. This new snow is generally bonded well to the old surface up to treeline elevations. Alpine areas around Squamish have likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind. In these areas the storm snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow amounts from Tuesday's storm vary widely across the region and range from about 30- 60 cm.  This new snow has fallen with moderate to strong southerly winds switching to northerly near the end of the storm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects.  At higher elevations the new snow lies on a crust on solar aspects while on northerly aspects old wind slabs and surface hoar have been buried.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 60-80 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and above, most of the region's upper snowpack consists of 20-40 cm of recent storm snow. Areas just east of Kootenay Lake however have seen closer to 70 cm of storm snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This snow sits on old wind slabs on northerly aspects, and on crusts on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely now be found at approximately 50 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been gradually forming a more reliable bond with the old snow surfaces it buried, including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. Natural cornice falls triggering large avalanches has been a trend for the past few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 35 cm of new snow fell in the region over last weekend. This new snow was initially redistributed by strong easterly winds before winds switched to the southwest. As a result, a mix of old and new wind slabs can now be found on a variety of aspects and at lower elevations as well.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind effect, the recent snow has buried an old snow surface that consists of crusts up to 2100 metres and dry snow or surface hoar on north aspects above 2100 m. Below this layer the mid-pack is is well consolidated. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack (50-80 cm down) the surface hoar buried in mid-February is now considered dormant. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack you'll find a combination of crusts and facets that is reportedly widespread.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 5-10 cm of storm snow with strong southerly wind Sunday night adds to last week's storm which delivered 20 to 50 cm of snow accompanied by strong to extreme wind out of the southwest, south and southeast. This storm snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last weekend's storm snow totals are 20-40 cm of recent storm snow that sits on a crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, north and east aspects are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar layer buried early March that is about 40-60 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week. Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 60 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the recent storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather brought 50-80 cm of new snow to the region over the past week. These accumulations taper quickly at lower elevations as well as moving inland from the coast. Strong southwest to northwest winds have been redistributing the new snow into wind slabs at high elevations. Beneath the wind effect, the storm snow overlies old surfaces that include a layer of surface hoar on high shaded aspects as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another lingering layer of surface hoar can be found just below the first on shaded aspects at lower elevations. With the overlying storm snow now settled into a stiffer slab, this layer became touchy in the Terrace area on Tuesday, producing numerous large, remotely-triggered avalanches. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north. These buried layers are currently dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of storm snow from last week has been settling into a reactive slab over a range of old snow surfaces, including two layers of surface hoar existing on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below. This storm snow has been showing a poor bond to the shallowest of these buried weak layers, down about 40cm. Recent strong winds have redistributed the new snow into thicker and likely more reactive wind slabs on a range of aspects wind-exposed terrain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and drier parts of the region, such as in the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow amounts following Tuesday's storm typically range from 40 to 50 cm and up to 70 cm in some areas. This snow has fallen with moderate to strong winds from the south / east switching to west and northwest. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The recent storm snow sits a variety of old surfaces; crust on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900m, and surface hoar on high north and east aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper crust/surface interface buried March 18th is now down about 60 to 80 cm and is similar to the old surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 60 to 100 cm of recent storm snow has fallen with moderate to strong winds from the south / west. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a variety of old snow surfaces: sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects, and older storm snow or wind slabs up high. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators but are generally considered dormant. Large triggers such as a surface avalanche stepping down or a large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area could still be potential triggers. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-50 cm of recent snow sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above treeline the storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. A layer buried mid March is down 30 to 60cm is crust on solar aspects and surface hoar on high elevation north. A layer buried early March is 50 to 80cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those just described.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights later in the spring. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Between 5 and 10cm of new snow today from convective flurries. Moderate to strong winds continue to add to the existing wind slab problem, but slab formation is variable and not as widespread as expected. The recent snow is sluffing in steep Alpine terrain. In addition to the surface slabs, forecasters continue to watch for buried slabs that sit on the March 15th crust. Watch for this specifically on solar aspects. In addition, several different wind slab interfaces are found in wind prone areas. Human triggering of wind slabs of various depths is possible.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow is settled and is bonding to the old surface up to treeline elevations. Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind last week. In these areas the storm snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow amounts from Tuesday's storm vary widely across the region and range from about 30- 60 cm, and taper with elevation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This snow has buried the old interface from late-March which consists of; a supportive crust on solar and all aspects below 1900 m, and old wind slabs, facets and surface hoar on high northerly aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Pockets of surface hoar (buried mid- March) have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 60-80 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and above, most of the region's upper snowpack consists of 20-40 cm of recent storm snow. Areas just east of Kootenay Lake however have seen closer to 70 cm of storm snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This snow sits on the late-March interface that consists of; old wind slabs on northerly aspects, and crusts on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and can likely be found at approximately 40-60 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs exist on all aspects, produced from redistribution of last weekend’s storm snow from variable wind directions. This snow sits on a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m, as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m.  At ridgetop, cornices are large and have been failing in the past days.  At lower elevations, expect to find moist snow on the surface with daytime warming and potential rainfall, which will freeze into a crust with cooler overnight temperatures.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150 to 300 cm. These layers are currently considered dormant but may be awoken by a large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs exist on all aspects in exposed terrain, produced from variable wind directions that redistributed last weekend’s storm snow.  In sheltered locations, expect to find dry snow in shady areas or wet snow on southerly aspects.  This snow overlies a crust found up to 2200 metres.  On shaded aspects at treeline in parts of the region, a layer of surface hoar is found about 40 cm down.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The midpack is well-settled and strong, which overlies sugary facets in thin snowpack areas.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm snow has been redistributed by moderate to strong southwest winds. This snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last weekend's 20-40 cm of storm snow sits on a crust that is present at all elevations on solar aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, north and east aspects are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar layer buried early March that is about 40-60 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week. Also in the north of the region a weak layer buried mid-February is about 60 to 80 cm below the surface and has been reactive in snowpack tests. The layer is composed of sugary facets, a sun crust on solar aspects, and surface hoar that is present at and below tree line. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the recent storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm is expected to bring another 10 to 30 cm of snow to the southern parts of the region. This overlies last weekends 50 to 80 cm of storm snow, with the highest accumulation at high elevations and closest to the coast. Strong westerly winds have redistributed last weeks snow in open areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two layers of surface hoar exist in the region at depths of about 40 to 60 cm, being buried early and mid-March. At low elevations, a melt-freeze crust also exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Numerous dormant layers exist deeper in the snowpack. Layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar/crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursdays storm is expected to bring another 10 to 30 cm of snow to the southern parts of the region. This overlies last weekends 40 cm of storm snow, which has settled into a reactive slab and is not bonding well to old snow surfaces. These include two layers of surface hoar, which exist on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below treeline elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist, particularly in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas. Shallower storm slabs have stepped down to these facets recently, producing very large avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow amounts following Tuesday's storm typically range from 40 to 50 cm and up to 70 cm in some areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The recent storm snow sits a variety of old surfaces which form the late-March interface that consists of; crust on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900m, and surface hoar on high north and east aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper crust/surface interface buried mid-March is now down about 60 to 80 cm, and is similar to the late-March interface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers but are generally considered dormant.&nbsp; </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 60 to 100 cm of recent storm snow has fallen with moderate to strong winds from the south / west. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a variety of old snow surfaces buried late-March that consist of: sun crusts at lower elevations and on south aspects, and older storm snow or wind slabs up high. Surface hoar layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-60 cm of recent snow sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. On northerly aspects at and above tree line the storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. A layer buried mid March is down 30 to 60cm is crust on solar aspects and surface hoar on high elevation north. A layer buried early March is 50 to 80cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those just described.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A flight through the region today gave us a good look around. Most alpine areas have widespread wind slabs of various densities, but the tighter, sheltered drainages are still holding decent snow below ridgeline. Treeline has less wind affect overall with soft snow on sheltered north aspects. The aspect begins to play a role at this elevation. The Mar 15 crust is widespread on any solar aspect. It is down 20-40cm and so far has a decent bond to the surface layers. Intense sun today will likely form another thin surface crust on south aspects. Overall, the snowpack is reasonably solid, but still a ways from our usual spring like snowpack typical of late march. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's snow is settled and has bonded to the old surface up to treeline elevations. Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind last week. In these areas the storm snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 15-30 cm of snow on Friday brings the weekly total to 40-80 cm, with amounts tapering with elevation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Pockets of surface hoar (buried mid-March) have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 60-80 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall amounts have been variable over the past week, with areas just east of Kootenay Lake receiving up to 80 cm of snow while eastern parts of the region received 20-40 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-60 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 5 to 10 cm of snow fell on Friday.  Wind slabs may linger on all aspects at higher elevations, produced from the redistribution of last weekend’s storm snow with variable wind directions. This snow sits on a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m, as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m.  At ridgetop, cornices are large and have been failing in the past few days.  At low elevations, expect to find a surface crust or moist snow on southerly aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the late-November weak layer is composed of weak and sugary facets around a crust, which is buried around 200 to 300 cm and considered dormant.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of new snow fell at higher elevations, with associated strong westerly switching to easterly winds. This new snow fell on previous wind slabs that exist on all aspects in exposed terrain.  In sheltered locations, expect to find dry snow in shady areas. A melt-freeze crust is found at low elevations, where the precipitation fell as rain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 50 cm deep, a crust is found up to 2200 metres.  At a similar depth, a layer of surface hoar is found on shaded aspects at treeline in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The midpack is well-settled and strong. This overlies sugary facets in thin snowpack areas.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We've seen only trace amounts of new snow in the past two days. Winds, however, have been moderate to strong from the south, building fresh wind slabs and further growing cornices. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm snow has been redistributed by moderate to strong southwest winds. This snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard sudden planar results, typically down 50-60cm on 1-2mm facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The past two days have seen only 1-6cm of new snow in most areas (with some higher amounts in isolated areas of the Coquihalla). Winds have redistributed older snow to give a wide variety of surfaces: hard wind slabs, soft wind slabs and melt-freeze crusts. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow from a week ago sits on a crust that is present at all elevations on sunny aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, north and east aspects are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar layer buried early March that is about 40-60 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the last storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm dumped 30 to 40 cm of snow in the south of the region, such as around Terrace and Shames. This overlies last weekends storm snow, which was redistributed with strong westerly winds in exposed areas at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Two layers of surface hoar exist in the region at depths of about 60 to 80 cm, being buried early and mid-March. At low elevations, the storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Dormant weak layers exist deeper in the snowpack. Layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar from mid- and late-February are buried 100 to 150 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist in shallower parts of the region, such as the far north.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursdays storm brought up to 35 cm of snow to the southern parts of the region, such as around Smithers. This overlies last weekends storm snow, which has settled into a reactive slab and is not bonding well to old snow surfaces that are about 50 cm deep. These include two layers of surface hoar, which exist on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below treeline elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried about 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist, particularly in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas. Shallower storm slabs have stepped down to these facets recently, producing very large avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 15-30 cm of snow on Friday brings the weekly total to 40-80 cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper layer buried mid-March is now 60 to 90 cm below the surface, and is similar to the late-March interface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 10-20 cm of snow on Friday brings the weekly total to 60-100 cm. Storm snow was accompanied with moderate to strong winds from the southwest.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-60 cm of recent snow sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. Winds were moderate to strong from the north west on Wednesday (switching to southwest by Friday) , creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On northerly aspects at and above tree line the storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Two other weak layers are present in the upper snowpack. A layer buried mid March is down 30 to 60cm is crust on solar aspects and surface hoar on high elevation north. A layer buried early March is 50 to 80cm below the surface and is similar in composition to those just described.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">10cm new snow in the last 24 hours with moderate to strong variable winds. Fresh wind slabs on all aspects in alpine terrain, but only east aspects at treeline. Valley bottom has a new widespread crust from yesterday, which will likely be buried by tomorrow. This new crust is also present on solar aspects up to 2300m. Expect new snow to not stick very well at first.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We've seen only small amounts of new snow (1-8cm) in the past two days with daytime high temperatures rising to just above freezing at tree line elevations. The end result has given us a ~3cm thick melt-freeze crust that is generally unsupportive at lower elevations (below tree line) and supportive at higher elevations (tree line), particularly in the North Shore mountains. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind early in the week. In these areas the storm snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 10-25 cm of snow on Friday brings the weekly total to 40-80 cm, with amounts tapering with elevation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Pockets of surface hoar (buried mid-March) have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 60-80 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall amounts have been variable over the past week, with areas just east of Kootenay Lake receiving up to 80 cm of snow and eastern parts of the region receiving only 20-40 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-60 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs may exist on all aspects at higher elevations from recent snowfall and variable wind directions.  Expect to find a melt-freeze crust on the surface on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1700 m. A surface hoar and crust layer is found around treeline at a depth of about 60 cm, with surface hoar on northerly aspects and the crust elsewhere.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At ridgetop, cornices are large and have been failing the past few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the late-November weak layer is composed of sugary facets around a crust, which is buried around 200 to 300 cm and is currently dormant.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 25 cm of new snow fell at higher elevations on Friday, with associated strong westerly switching to easterly winds. The precipitation fell as rain at lower elevations, which froze into a melt-freeze crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 50 cm deep, a crust is found up to 2200 metres. At a similar depth, a layer of surface hoar is found on shaded aspects at treeline in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The midpack is well-settled and strong. This overlies sugary facets in thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We've seen only trace amounts of new snow in the past three days. Winds, however, were moderate to strong from the south through to Friday, building fresh wind slabs and further growing cornices.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm snow was redistributed by moderate to strong southwest winds. This snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard sudden planar results, typically down 50-60cm on 1-2mm facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The past three days have seen only 3-9cm of new snow in most areas (with some higher amounts in isolated areas of the Coquihalla). Daytime warming created moist, heavy surface snow on sunny aspects, which refroze to form a crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Winds redistributed older snow to give a wide variety of surfaces: hard wind slabs, soft wind slabs on shady aspects, and the melt-freeze crusts on sunny aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow from a week ago sits on a deeper crust that is present at all elevations on sunny aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack in the north of the region, north and east aspects are harboring cold snow and a surface hoar layer buried early March that is about 40-60 cm below the surface. This layer exists at alpine and treeline elevations, but it is not everywhere. This layer has produced large human triggered avalanches in the north of the region in the past week. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the last storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday’s storm dumped 30 to 40 cm of snow in the south of the region, such as around Terrace and Shames.  There is now about 70 to 90 cm of storm snow that overlies two layers of surface hoar, which were buried early- and mid-March. At low elevations, the storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Dormant weak layers exist deeper in the snowpack.  Layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar from mid- and late-February are buried 100 to 150 cm.  Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist in shallower parts of the region, such as the far north.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursdays storm brought up to 40 cm of snow to the southern parts of the region, such as around Smithers. This overlies last weekends storm snow that has settled into a reactive slab about 50 cm thick. This slab is not bonding well to two layers of surface hoar, which exist on shaded aspects at high elevations as well as a melt-freeze crust on all aspects at treeline and below treeline elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried about 100 cm exist from mid-February. Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets recently, producing very large avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of snow on Friday brings the weekly total throughout the region to 40-80 cm. Strong west winds have redistributed the snow in alpine and treeline terrain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper layer buried mid-March is now 60 to 90 cm below the surface, and is similar to the late-March interface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of snow on Friday brings last week's total to 60-100 cm. Storm snow was accompanied with strong west wind, forming reactive slabs at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and sun over the long weekend resulted in moist surface snow on sunny aspects, and firm crusts when the surface froze overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-60 cm of snow from last week sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. Winds were moderate to strong from the north west on Wednesday (switching to southwest by Friday), creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On northerly aspects at and above tree line the old storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Another weak layer buried mid March is down 50 to 80cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north. The surface hoar is still giving sudden collapse test results.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 25cm recent storm snow at Treeline. In the early stage of the storm the winds were strong from the NW switching to SW. This has formed surface and near surface wind slabs in the Alpine. Cornices have grown. At the tail end of the storm the winds tapered off and at Treeline and below there is little to no wind effect in the surface snow. A series of sun crusts are buried on solar aspects, but generally seem unreactive, however the Mar 15 crust down up to 30cm is still being monitored.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and below, we're into a spring cycle with a good re-freeze overnight (supportive crust) followed by daytime warming to +6 and wet surface snow. New snow amounts over the past three days (1-8cm) have been absorbed into the spring snowpack cycle. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind early last week. In these areas the more recent snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light new snow amounts have begun to accumulate over wind-affected surfaces as well as a new crust on sun-exposed aspects. Below the surface, storm snow totals from</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">last week reached 40-80 cm, with amounts that taper with elevation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Pockets of surface hoar (buried mid-March) have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 60-80 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light new snow amounts have begun to accumulate over wind-affected surfaces as well as a new crust on solar aspects. Below the surface, accumulations from last week vary from up to 80 cm amounts in areas just east of Kootenay Lake to a mere 20-40 cm in eastern parts of the region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-60 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Substantial amounts of new snowfall are expected in the region, with accumulations that could reach 30 cm in localized areas. The new snow will fall on a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1700 m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer buried mid-March is found around treeline at a depth of about 70 cm, with weak surface hoar on northerly aspects and the crust elsewhere. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the late-November weak layer is composed of sugary facets around a crust, which is buried around 200 to 300 cm and is currently dormant.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At ridgetop, cornices are large and were actively failing over the last week.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 to 20 cm of new snowfall is expected in the region. The new snow will fall on wind slabs at higher elevations and a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects at low elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Numerous crusts are found around 60 to 80 cm deep up to 2200 m. At a similar depth, a layer of surface hoar is found on shaded aspects at treeline in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The midpack is well-settled and strong. This overlies sugary facets in thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We've seen only trace amounts of new snow in the past four days, although convective activity on Sunday could produce local amounts of 10-15cm. Winds, however, were once again moderate to strong from the south / southwest Saturday night, keeping wind slabs in the front of our minds and further growing cornices.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Sunny aspects have been through a melt-freeze cycle over the past few days, in addition to likely being wind scoured. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storm snow was redistributed by moderate to strong southwest winds. This snow rests on the March 21st interface, a mix of moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard sudden planar results, typically down 50-60cm on 1-2mm facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, 80 to 140 cm below the surface is a combination of facets, surface hoar, and/or crust known as the mid-February layer. This interface has not been active recently.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The past four days have seen only 5-15 cm of new snow in most ar</span><span class="s_3FE45715">eas (although convective activity on Sunday could produce additional local amounts of 10-15cm). Daytime warming </span><span class="s_3FE45715">created moist, heavy surface snow on sunny aspects, which refroze to form a crust overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Winds picked up on Sunday morning, creating fresh wind slabs on northerly aspects. The newer snow sits on a wide variety of surfaces: hard wind slabs, soft wind slabs on shady </span><span class="s_3FE45715">aspects,</span><span class="s_3FE45715"> and the melt-freeze crusts on sunny aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow from a week ago sits on a deeper crust that is present at all elevations on sunny aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects at treeline and alpine elevations the storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, around the Coquihalla and in Manning Park, the last storm snow overlies a recent crust that caps a well settled snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect to find a surface crust on southerly aspects from the weekend’s clear skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, there is about 70 to 90 cm of storm snow from last week that overlies two layers of surface hoar, which are most prominent on north to easterly aspects and were buried early- and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.  At low elevations, last week’s storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist in shallower parts of the region, such as the far north.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect to find a surface crust on southerly aspects from the weekend’s clear skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A reactive slab about 50 cm thick has developed from last week’s storm snow.  This slab overlies two layers of weak surface hoar, which exist on shaded aspects at high elevations.  The slab sits on a melt-freeze crust on all aspects below treeline.  The storm snow may still be loose in sheltered and shady locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas.  Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets recently, producing very large avalanches.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of new snow on Friday brought the weekly total throughout the region to 40-80 cm. Strong west winds have redistributed the snow in alpine and treeline terrain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a layer buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper layer buried mid-March is now 60 to 90 cm below the surface, and is similar to the late-March interface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of new snow on Friday brought last week's total to 60-100 cm. Storm snow was accompanied with strong west wind, forming reactive slabs at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on an interface buried in late-March that consist of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and sun over the long weekend resulted in moist snow on sunny aspects, and firm crusts when the surface froze overnight. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-60 cm of snow from last week sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. Winds were moderate to strong from the north west on Wednesday (switching to southwest by Friday), creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On northerly aspects at and above tree line the old storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Another weak layer buried mid March is down 50 to 80cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north. The surface hoar is still giving sudden collapse test results.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The recent storm snow the we received earlier in the week is settling and beginning to strengthen.  Isolated windslabs are being found in Alpine terrain along ridge crests and gullied features but do not extend far downslope.  On solar aspects there is a new thin melt freeze crust the developed on Saturday and then the deeper march 15th crust down closer to 50cm.  Field tests are showing no results on this crust so far but we are still cautious in bigger south facing terrain.  Dig down and evaluate this interface before committing to a feature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and below, we're into a spring cycle with a good re-freeze overnight (supportive crust) followed by daytime warmings to +6 and wet surface snow. New snow amounts over the past several days (10 cm or less) have been absorbed into the spring snowpack cycle. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow a week ago, with wind early last week. In these areas the more recent snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm of new snow over Sunday night has brought storm snow totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 50-90 cm. with amounts that taper with elevation. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong west wind and formed reactive slabs at higher elevations. More recent north winds reached extreme, so a mix of stubborn old and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind effect at the surface, a break between storm pulses allowed for the formation of yet another layer of sun crust (south aspects) and surface hoar (shaded aspects) that is now buried by 20-30 cm of new snow. The full depth of recent storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Pockets of surface hoar (buried mid-March) have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 70-100 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Variable snowfall over Sunday night brought a trace to 25 cm to the region, burying previously wind-affected surfaces as well as a new sun crust on sun-exposed aspects. Storm snow totals from the past week are now a highly variable 20-80 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This storm snow sits on an persistent weak layer buried in late March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-80 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of snow on Sunday night has fallen above a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1700 m. The new snow has been wind-affected and may take awhile to bond to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A surface hoar and crust layer buried mid-March is found around treeline at a depth of about 80 cm, with weak surface hoar on northerly aspects and the crust elsewhere. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, the late-November weak layer is composed of sugary facets around a crust, which is buried around 200 to 300 cm deep and is currently dormant.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large along ridgetops and were actively failing last week.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Northern parts of the region received 5-10 cm on Sunday night while up to 25 cm fell in southern parts of the region. The new snow sits above old wind slabs at higher elevations and above hard crust layers at lower elevations and on sunny aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Numerous crusts are found around 60 to 80 cm deep up to 2200 m. At a similar depth, a layer of surface hoar is found on shaded aspects at treeline in parts of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The midpack is well-settled and strong. This overlies sugary facets in thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of new snow fell on Easter Sunday (with some locally higher amounts due to intense convective activity and gusty winds). Winds have been gusting strong, previously from the south and most recently the north.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The end result is that snow conditions are wildly variable, ranging from melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects to scoured old hard wind slabs to isolated pockets of soft wind slab. </span><a id='GoToAdded' href="http://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/52f050d8-48d6-4b42-877a-66ecf8ceb515" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">See this MIN post for a good summary of conditions beyond the musical bumps.</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Old snow from a week ago rests on the March 21st interface, which has a very patchy distribution: moist grains at low elevations, crusts on solar aspects at all elevations and surface hoar/facets on north/east facing features at treeline and alpine elevations. Some west facing features may have surface hoar on top of a crust. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard sudden planar results, typically down 50-60cm on 1-2mm facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Convective flurries and gusty winds on Easter Sunday resulted in some local accumulations up to 25cm; however, most areas saw 10-15cm of new snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This new snow sits on melt-freeze crusts on sunny aspects at treeline and below or it sits on hard wind slabs in the alpine, and possibly some soft wind slabs on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Winds picked up earlier on Sunday morning, creating fresh wind slabs on northerly aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow from a week ago sits on a deeper crust that is present at all elevations on sunny aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects between 1900m and 2250m the old storm snow sits on a mix of large surface hoar and or facets buried March 21st, and found down anywhere from 20-70cm. The distribution the March 21st layer is patchy, and has resulted in some hard to trigger avalanches ranging from size 1 to 2.5. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Moderate amounts of new snow are expected in the region, but accumulations could reach 30 cm in some localized areas. The new snow will fall on a hard crust layer on south-facing slopes and at elevations below 800-1200 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, there is about 70 to 90 cm of snow from last week that overlies two layers of surface hoar, which are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of new snow is expected on Tuesday. The new snow will sit above a sun crust on southerly aspects from the weekend's clear skies.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A reactive slab about 50 cm thick has developed after last week's storm. On shaded aspects at high elevations, this slab overlies two layers of weak surface hoar. On all aspects below treeline, the slab sits on a melt-freeze crust. The storm snow may still be loose in sheltered and shady locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets recently, producing very large avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm of new snow over Sunday night has brought storm snow totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 40-90 cm. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong west wind and formed reactive slabs at higher elevations. More recent north winds reached extreme, so a mix of stubborn old and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind effect at the surface, a break between storm pulses allowed for the formation of yet another layer of sun crust (south aspects) and surface hoar (shaded aspects) that is now buried by 20-30 cm of new snow. The full depth of recent storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late-March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A deeper layer buried mid-March is now 60 to 90 cm below the surface, and is similar to the late-March interface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms brought totals of 60-100 cm of new snow to the region. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong west wind, forming reactive slabs at higher elevations. More recent north winds reached extreme, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In sheltered areas, the storm snow has been settling into a slab above a persistent weak layer buried in late-March that consists of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. Although this problem is now being labeled a persistent slab, our recent storm slab releases have been running on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Well that was quite a storm, wasn't it Nelson? The region saw wildly variable amounts of new snow on Monday morning, ranging from 2cm to 48cm near Nelson!!!</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow sits on firm crusts on sunny aspects, and all aspects below 1900m. On higher, shady aspects, the new snow may sit on some old wind slabs from last week, or a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer buried mid March is down 50 to 120cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A few centimetres of fresh snow fell in the past 24 hours. The recent storm snow the we received earlier in the week is settling and beginning to strengthen. Isolated wind slabs are being found in Alpine terrain along ridge crests and gully features but do not extend far down slope. On solar aspects there is a new thin melt freeze crust the developed on Saturday and then the deeper march 15th crust down closer to 50cm. Field tests are showing no results on this crust so far but we are still cautious in bigger south facing terrain. Dig down and evaluate this interface before committing to a feature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and below, we're into a spring cycle with a good re-freeze overnight (supportive crust) followed by daytime warmings to +6 and wet surface snow. New snow amounts over the past several days (10 cm or less) have been absorbed into the spring snowpack cycle. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow a week ago, with wind early last week. In these areas the more recent snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm of new snow over Sunday night brought storm snow totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 50-90 cm, with amounts that taper with elevation. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the depth of the recent storm snow, formed during breaks in storms that allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. These shallower layers (20-50 cm deep) remain a concern, as does the similar mid-March persistent weak layer, now buried up to a metre deep. The reactivity of these layers appears to decrease with depth, however the mid-March layer still features in daily reports and the potential for deep 'step down' types of releases can't yet be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storms over the past week brought variable snowfall totals of 20-80 cm to the region, with areas to the south of the region seeing the deepest accumulations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-90 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 15 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 80 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large along ridgetops and were actively failing last week.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist in the top metre of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We've been seeing regular amounts of light snow (2-10 cm each day) since Easter Sunday (with some locally higher amounts due to intense convective activity and gusty winds). Winds have been gusting strong, previously from the north and most recently the south.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The end result is that snow conditions are wildly variable, with a skiff of new snow sitting on: melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs, isolated pockets of soft wind slab or soft snow giving decent skiing in some sheltered locations. </span><a id='GoToAdded' href="http://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/52f050d8-48d6-4b42-877a-66ecf8ceb515" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">See this MIN post for a good summary of conditions beyond the musical bumps.</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Old snow from a week ago rests on the March 21st interface, which has a very patchy distribution, but is mostly likely to be found on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m. The March 21st interface has been giving variably moderate to hard resistant planar results, typically down 40-60cm on 1-2mm facets.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Only small amounts of new snow (2-4cm) in the north and modest amounts (5-14cm) of low density snow in the south on Tuesday. Winds were gusting moderate from the (north) east in the Coquihalla. This adds to the new snow from Sunday, which resulted in some local accumulations of up to 25cm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This new snow sits on melt-freeze crusts on sunny aspects at treeline and below or it sits on hard wind slabs in the alpine, and possibly some soft wind slabs on shady aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow from a week ago sits on a deeper crust that is present at all elevations on sunny aspects as well as low elevation northerly aspects. On northerly and east aspects between 1900m and 2250m the old storm snow sits on a mix of rounding surface hoar and/or facets buried March 21st, and found down anywhere from 20-70cm. The distribution the March 21st layer is patchy, and has resulted in some hard to trigger avalanches ranging from size 1 to 2.5. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of new snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, 70 to 90 cm of snow overlies two layers of surface hoar. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Trace amounts of new snow sit above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week avalanches were failing on weak layers roughly 40 cm below the surface. The weak layers included surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm of new snow over Sunday night brought storm snow totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 40-90 cm. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the depth of the recent storm snow, formed during breaks in storms that allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. These shallower layers remain a concern, as does the similar mid-March persistent weak layer, now buried up to a metre deep. The reactivity of these layers appears to decrease with depth, however the mid-March layer still features in daily reports and the potential for deep 'step down' types of releases can't yet be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms brought totals of 60-100 cm of new snow to the region. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In sheltered areas, this storm snow has been gradually settling into a slab above a persistent weak layer buried in mid-March that consists of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. The structure of storm snow above this layer isn't uniform, however, and recent storm slabs have been observed running on an interface down about 40 cm as well as at the late-March crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Well that was quite a storm, wasn't it Nelson? The region saw wildly variable amounts of new snow on Monday morning, ranging from 2cm to 48cm near Nelson!!! Since then, only 2-4 cm of new snow has fallen, and temperatures stayed cool. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow sits on firm crusts on sunny aspects, and all aspects below 1900m. On higher, shady aspects, the new snow may sit on some old wind slabs from last week, or a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer buried mid March is down 50 to 120cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Trace amounts of new snow in the past 24hrs. Both surface and buried wind slabs are found in the Alpine, but these are not widespread. In some areas the surface snow is exhibiting very little wind effect. Sun crusts on solar aspects remained frozen for much of the day due to cool temperatures and light winds. The March 15 crust is down 30 to 50cm on solar aspects, but has been unreactive for several days. The midpack is very well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At tree line and below, we're into a spring cycle with a good re-freeze overnight (supportive crust) followed by daytime warmings to +3 and wet surface snow. New snow amounts over the past several days (10 cm or less) have been absorbed into the spring snowpack cycle. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow a week ago, with wind early last week. In these areas the more recent snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm produced 10 cm of cold snow with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm Sunday night brought storm totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 50-90 cm, with amounts that taper with elevation. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the depth of the recent storm snow, formed during breaks in storms that allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. These shallower layers (20-50 cm deep) remain a concern, as does the similar mid-March persistent weak layer, now buried up to a metre deep. The reactivity of these layers appears to decrease with depth, however the mid-March layer still features in daily reports and the potential for deep 'step down' types of releases can't yet be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm brought up to 8 cm of new snow with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storms over the past week brought variable snowfall totals of 20-80 cm to the region, with areas to the south of the region seeing the deepest accumulations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-90 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm storm snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 80 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cornices are large along ridgetops and were actively failing last week.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist in the top metre of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Forecast snow is expected to build new storm/wind slabs on Thursday. Cornices are reported to be large and fragile. New snow will overlie various old surfaces including existing storm slabs, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs and dry snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets or a sun crust buried in late March is now down about 60-80 cm. This is patchy in its distribution, but is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snow and moderate winds have created touchy slabs in specific terrain. Cornices are reported to be large and fragile. New snow overlies various old surfaces including melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs and dry snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets or a sun crust buried in late March is now down about 60-80 cm. This is patchy in its distribution, but is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of new snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, 70 to 90 cm of snow overlies two layers of surface hoar. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A skiff of fresh snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week avalanches were failing on weak layers roughly 40 cm below the surface. The weak layers included surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up a few centimeters Tuesday night with very little wind.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5-20 cm of new snow Sunday night brought storm snow totals from the past week to a wide-ranging 40-90 cm. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the depth of the recent storm snow, formed during breaks in storms that allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. These shallower layers remain a concern, as does the similar mid-March persistent weak layer, now buried up to a metre deep. The reactivity of these layers appears to decrease with depth, however the mid-March layer still features in daily reports and the potential for deep 'step down' types of releases can't yet be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm brought up to 10 cm of cold snow to the region with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms brought totals of 60-100 cm of new snow to the region. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old and stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now likely be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In sheltered areas, this storm snow has been gradually settling into a slab above a persistent weak layer buried in mid-March that consists of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. The structure of storm snow above this layer isn't uniform, however, and recent storm slabs have been observed running on an interface down about 40 cm as well as at the late-March crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm recent snow is slowly settling. Storm snow overlies variable surfaces including hard crusts on all aspects below 1900 m, and sunny aspects higher up. On high, shady aspects, the new snow may sit on some old wind slabs from last week, or a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer buried in mid-March is down 50 to 120 cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north aspects. Deeper weak layers are generally considered dormant. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Windslabs are being found in Alpine areas along ridgelines and cross loaded features. We are certainly avoiding steeper unsupported features such as above cliff walls and convex rolls that are near the entrances to some runs and terrain features. On solar aspects the march 15th crust is down 40-60cm and the bond on this crust has been variable. Did down and check this interface if you plan on moving onto more solar aspects. The skiing is likely not great on these aspects due to the presence of thin surface crusts. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Alpine areas around Squamish are expected to develop new storm slabs on Thursday. New snow will add to recent snow which overlies variable surfaces including crusts and facets. Little is known about these buried weak layers, but they are more likely to be problematic on shady aspects. The mid and lower snowpack are generally strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline and below, a strong spring snowpack exists. Rain may break down surface crusts on Thursday, but the snowpack is expected to regain strength once the temperature drops again. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm produced 10 cm of cold snow with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 20 cm of snow fell Sunday night putting the storm total at 50 to 90 cm, with amounts that taper with elevation. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old/stubborn as well as newer more reactive wind slabs can be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the upper 20 to 50 cm of snow. Breaks in the storm allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March PWL consists of crust/surface hoar and is now buried up to a metre deep. This PWL continues to produce large human triggered avalanches daily. The potential for deep 'step down' avalanches can't be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being observed by professionals, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm brought up to 8 cm of new snow with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storms over the past week brought variable snowfall totals of 20 to 80 cm to the region, with areas to the south of the region seeing the deepest accumulations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40 to 90 cm below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm storm snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 80 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-15 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist in the top metre of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow and wind are combining to create new slabs. Cornices are reported to be large and fragile. New snow will overlie various old surfaces including previous storm snow, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs and dry snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets or a sun crust buried in late March is now down about 60-80 cm. This is patchy in its distribution, but is still producing sporadic large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snow and moderate winds may have created touchy slabs in specific terrain. Cornices are reported to be large and fragile. New snow overlies various old surfaces including melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, scoured old hard wind slabs and dry snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets or a sun crust buried in late March is now down about 60-80 cm. This is patchy in its distribution, but is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900m and 2250m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of new snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, 70 to 90 cm of snow overlies two layers of surface hoar. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">From 20 cm up to 40-50 cm of recent storm snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface. These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm produced 10 cm of cold snow with very little wind.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A variable 5 to 20 cm of snow Sunday night put storm totals from the past week at 40 to 90 cm, with amounts that taper with elevation. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old/stubborn as well as newer more reactive wind slabs can be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the wind-affected surface, a few regionally variable weak layers exist within the upper 40 to 90 cm of snow. Breaks in the storm allowed for the formation of sun crusts on sun exposed slopes as well as surface hoar on shaded aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March PWL consists of crust/surface hoar and is now buried up to a metre deep. This PWL continues to produce large avalanches daily. The potential for deep 'step down' avalanches can't be dismissed.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being monitored by professionals, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms brought 60 to 100 cm of new snow to the region. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old/stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In sheltered areas, this storm snow has been gradually settling into a slab above a persistent weak layer buried in mid-March that consists of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. The structure of storm snow above this layer isn't uniform, however, and recent storm slabs have been observed running on an interface down about 40 cm as well as at the late-March crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm settled snow from last weekend overlies variable surfaces including a hard crust which exists on all aspects below 1900 m, and on sunny aspects higher up. On higher, shady aspects, the new snow may sit on some old wind slabs or a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Some professionals are still monitoring a deeper crust/surface hoar weak layer about 1 m down. Deeper weak layers are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Surface facetting continues in the upper snowpack due to the cold temperatures.  This is certainly helping the ski quality!  Isolated windslabs are being encountered along ridgelines but do not extend far downslope.  Cornices are very large for this time of year.  Also the March 15th crust is down 40-60cm on solar aspects up to peaks and the bond with the overlying snow is variable.  Dig down and test this layer....A new thin melt freeze crust formed on solar aspects on Thursday that may make the skiing a little more...hooky and challenging. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain fell on the snowpack below treeline on Thursday. Snow fell at higher elevations, potentially creating new storm slabs. Recent snow overlies variable surfaces including crusts and facets, which are more likely to be problematic on shady aspects. The mid and lower snowpack are generally strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline and below, a strong spring snowpack exists. Rain may break down surface crusts, but the snowpack is expected to regain strength once the temperature drops again.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper 30 to 40 cm of ageing storm snow and have formed a weak surface crust on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. Above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot;</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing, but it continues to produce large avalanches and the potential for deep 'step down' avalanches cannot be dismissed. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper 30 to 40 cm of ageing storm snow and have formed a weak surface crust on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2400 on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot;</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing, but it continues to produce large avalanches and the potential for deep 'step down' avalanches cannot be dismissed. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm storm snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 80 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-15 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist in the top metre of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow and strong southerly winds are creating new slabs at higher elevations. This snow overlies various old surfaces including previous storm snow, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, and old wind slabs. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, precipitation is falling as rain and creating wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 90 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow and strong southwesterly winds created new slabs at higher elevations.  This snow overlies various old surfaces including previous storm snow, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, and old wind slabs.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, precipitation is falling as rain and creating wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 40 to 70 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well-settled.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme winds have created widespread wind affect in the alpine and at treeline. At lower elevations up to 10-20 cm of snow sits on a solid crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, 70 to 100 cm of recent storm snow overlies two layers of surface hoar. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow this interface the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">From 20 cm up to 40-50 cm of recent storm snow is being redistributed by strong winds and sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper 30 to 40 cm of ageing storm snow and have formed a weak surface crust on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m.  This crust extends up to around 2500 on south facing slopes.  On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot;</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing, but it continues to produce large avalanches and the potential for deep 'step down' avalanches cannot be dismissed. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Last week's storms brought 60 to 100 cm of new snow to the region. The snowfall was initially accompanied by strong south winds and then followed by strong north winds, so a mix of old/stubborn and newer, more reactive wind slabs can now be found on a range of aspects at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In sheltered areas, this storm snow has been gradually settling into a slab above a persistent weak layer buried in mid-March that consists of crusts at low elevations and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. The structure of storm snow above this layer isn't uniform, however, and recent storm slabs have been observed running on an interface down about 40 cm as well as at the late-March crust. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Other persistent weak layers from early January and mid-December are still being reported by local operators, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of storm snow overlies settled snow from last weekend. A 5 cm thick crust is found around 40 cm deep on all aspects and elevations, except above 1900 m on north slopes.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack below this is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Winds increased overnight on Thursday and stiffened up the previous windslabs that existed in the upper snowpack.  These winds were variable so be on guard for these slabs as you approach ridgelines and around crossloaded features on all aspects.  On friday forecasters encountered these slabs up to 15cm thick in one valley and non-existent in the next valley less than 1km away.  A thin melt freeze crust also developed earlier in the week and can be found on all aspects except true north below 2000m and as high as 2400m on solar.  Cornices are large so travel cautiously around them.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 15 to 60 mm of rain fell on the snowpack up to around 1700 m on Thursday and Friday, with precipitation as snow above. More of the same is forecasted for Saturday. In alpine terrain, the snow will create new storm slabs. This snow overlies variable surfaces including crusts and facets, which are more likely to be problematic on shady aspects. The snowpack below this is generally strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline and below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain is saturating and weakening the upper snowpack, allowing for loose wet avalanches. This wet snow may freeze overnight at higher elevations with cool temperatures. The mid and lower snowpack are strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's new snow is coming to rest on a weak surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2500 m on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot; Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper 30 to 40 cm just below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent wind and cold snow have formed wind slabs 10 to 40 cm in depth in the alpine that sit on a mix of crusts and surface hoar. Test profiles show resistent planar failures at this interface. In wind sheltered terrain Saturday's new snow is coming to rest on a surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2400 m on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot; </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) is now 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east). The likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is steadily decreasing but the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm storm snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 80 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-15 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist in the top metre of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 cm of recent snow and strong southerly winds have created new slabs at higher elevations. This snow overlies various old surfaces including previous storm snow, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, and old wind slabs.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, precipitation fell as rain and creating wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 90 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 cm of snow and strong southwesterly winds created new slabs at higher elevations.  This snow overlies various old surfaces including previous storm snow, melt freeze crusts on sunny aspects, and old wind slabs.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, precipitation fell as rain and created wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 40 to 70 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well-settled.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme winds have created widespread wind affect in the alpine and at treeline. At lower elevations up to 10-20 cm of snow sits on a solid crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, 70 to 100 cm of recent storm snow overlies two layers of surface hoar. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow this interface the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">From 20 cm up to 50 cm of recent storm snow is being redistributed by strong winds and sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's new snow is coming to rest on a weak surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2500 on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have </span><span class="s_3FE45715">remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot; Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper 30 to 40 cm just below the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warming temperatures and time have helped to settle the upper snowpack and have likely formed a weak surface crust on all aspects below about 1800 m. This crust likely extends higher on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot;</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL), which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (those that face north and east). The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 to 30 cm of storm snow fell with strong southeast winds, redistributing it into lee features in exposed terrain. The new snow overlies a thin crust and settled snow from last weekend. A 5 cm thick crust is found around 50 cm deep on all aspects and elevations, except above 1900 m on north slopes.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack below this is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Warm temperatures and mostly sunny skies on Saturday led to moist snow on solar aspects at all elevations and at lower elevations on polar aspects. Wind slabs in the Alpine are highly variable in distribution and density, but are most commonly found near ridgelines in lee and cross-loaded terrain. On steep solar aspects in the Alpine there is a 30 to 50cm thick slab overlying the March 15th crust, and though this condition is not widespread there has been some avalanche activity associated to this problem recently. Cornices are large, are feeling the heat of the April sun, and should be avoided.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 80 mm of rain fell on the snowpack up to around treeline between Thursday and Saturday, with precipitation as snow above. In alpine terrain, the snow has created new storm slabs. This snow overlies a thick crust in most areas except for possibly shady aspects in alpine terrain. The snowpack below the crust is generally strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline and below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain saturated and weakened the upper snowpack.  The wet snow may freeze overnight at higher elevations with cool temperatures.  The mid and lower snowpack are strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 15 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent wind and cold snow have formed wind slabs 10 to 50 cm in depth in the alpine that sit on a mix of crusts and surface hoar. Test profiles show resistent planar failures at this interface. In wind sheltered terrain Saturday's new snow rests on a surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2400 m on south facing slopes. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, temperatures have remained cold and the snowpack is still quite &quot;winter-like.&quot; </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) is now 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east). The likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is steadily decreasing but the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">25 cm of new snow means about 40-50 cm of recent snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Wind has formed isolated slabs in lee features, and in some cases snow may be poorly bonded to buried crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">With about 20 cm on new snow on Sunday morning, 20-40 cm of snow sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Northern parts of the region have less new snow than southern parts. Wind has formed hard slabs in lee features, and in some cases the snow may be poorly bonded to the crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 cm of recent snow and strong southerly winds have created new slabs at higher elevations. This snow overlies a melt-freeze crust. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, recent precipitation fell as rain, so expect moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 90 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 to 20 cm of recent snow and strong southwesterly winds created new slabs at higher elevations.  This snow overlies a melt-freeze crusts on sunny aspects and all aspects to treeline, and dry snow on shaded aspects in the alpine.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, precipitation fell as rain and created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, or a sun crust from late March is now buried about 40 to 80 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on shady aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well-settled.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme winds have created widespread wind affect in the alpine and at treeline. Warming followed by cooling has created a surface crust exists on all aspects up to 1500 m which will likely break down with daytime warming, becoming moist or wet by the afternoon.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">From 20 cm up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed by strong winds and sits above a variety of crusts on all but high north aspects. Warming followed by cooling has created a surface crust on all aspects up to treeline elevations that will likely break down becoming moist or wet by the afternoon.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with light variable wind. This snow rests on crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 to 40 cm of storm snow fell with strong east switching to southwest winds, redistributing the snow into lee features in exposed terrain. The new snow overlies a melt-freeze crust on southerly aspects and on all aspects at low elevations, and settled snow on shaded aspects at high elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack below this is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">5-10cm fell over the past 24hrs with generally light winds.  This new snow is burying the previous wind slabs in the Alpine that are highly variable in distribution and density, but are most commonly found near ridgelines in lee and cross-loaded terrain. On steep solar aspects in the Alpine there is a 30 to 50cm thick slab overlying the March 15th crust, and though this condition is not widespread there has been some avalanche activity associated to this problem recently. Cornices are large, are feeling the heat of the April sun, and should be avoided.  Surface crusts should be expected on solar aspects to the peaks and on all aspects up to 2200m.  The best skiing is on sheltered N aspects. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 40 to 100 mm of rain fell on the snowpack up to around treeline between Thursday and Sunday, with precipitation as snow at alpine elevations and possible at treeline too. In higher terrain, snowfall has created new storm slabs. This snow overlies a thick crust in most areas except for possibly shady aspects in alpine terrain. The snowpack below the crust is generally strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below treeline and possibly treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. The rain saturated and weakened the upper snowpack. The wet snow may freeze at higher elevations with cool temperatures. The mid and lower snowpack are strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 15 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent wind and cold snow have formed wind slabs 10 to 50 cm in depth in the alpine that sit on a mix of crusts and surface hoar. Test profiles show resistent planar failures at this interface. In wind sheltered terrain Saturday's new snow rests on a surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2400 m on south facing slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) is now 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east). The likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is steadily decreasing but the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise Tuesday and Wednesday.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 25 cm of storm snow to become moist up to ridge top elevations. Below 1400 m, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. Below this, the mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 10-15 cm of storm snow to become moist up to about 2000 m. Below 1400 m in some areas, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures have moistened the snow surface on all aspects and at all elevations.  The forecasted snow on Tuesday will fall on this.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At lower elevations, recent precipitation fell as rain, so expect moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 120 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures have moistened the snow surface on all aspects and at all elevations.  At higher elevations, this overlies slabs formed from the weekend’s snow that fell with strong southwesterly winds.  On Tuesday, new snow will fall with strong winds, forming new wind slabs in lee features.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain and warming have created wet or moist snow within the top 10-20 cm of the snowpack, with little to no overnight re-freeze. Only high alpine north aspects are still harboring dry snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels and daytime warming have created moist or wet snow surfaces on all but alpine, northerly aspects where 20 cm up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed by strong winds. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise Tuesday and Wednesday.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with light variable wind. This snow rests on crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Solar aspects are expected to be the most suspect as the freezing level begins to rise Tuesday and Wednesday.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures have moistened the snow surface at all elevations and on all aspects. Forecasted snow on Tuesday will fall on this. Around 20 to 40 cm of storm snow that fell on the weekend with associated strong winds overlies numerous melt-freeze crusts formed over the past few weeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Moist snow on all aspects up to 2300m and higher on solar aspects, but  moderate winds kept the upper Alpine cooler. Both surface and buried wind slabs are found in wind prone areas in the Alpine and these have been building more into the Treeline with the persistent winds. The March 15th crust down 30 to 50cm on solar aspects has been active in recent days in isolated terrain (see avalanche summary). Cornices are large, are feeling the heat of the April sun, and should be avoided.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm air temperatures are moistening the weekend’s 40 to 100 cm of storm snow at treeline and alpine elevations, which sits above a thick crust.  Tuesday’s precipitation will continue to moisten the snow where it falls as rain and build new slabs where it falls as snow.  It is difficult to predict where and when rain will switch to snow, but expect the transition to happen midday on Tuesday, after which point most precipitation will fall as snow in the region above 1000 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain on the weekend saturated and weakened the upper snowpack.  Forecasted rain will continue this trend.  The mid and lower snowpack are strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 15 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Persistent slab avalanche activity on polar (north and east) aspects has dramatically decreased and solar (south and west) aspects are expected to be the most suspect over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent wind and cold snow have formed wind slabs 10 to 50 cm in depth in the alpine that sit on a mix of crusts and surface hoar. Test profiles show resistent planar failures at this interface. In wind sheltered terrain Saturday's new snow rests on a surface crust that exists on all aspects aside from true north below 2000 m. This crust extends up to around 2400 m on south facing slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) is now 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east). The likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is steadily decreasing but the consequence of doing so remains high. Persistent slab avalanche activity on polar (north and east) aspects has dramatically decreased and solar (south and west) aspects are expected to be the most suspect over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 25 cm of storm snow to become moist up to ridge top elevations, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. Below this, the mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 10-15 cm of storm snow to become moist up to about 2000 m, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m in some areas, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and rain have moistened the snow surface on all aspects and at all elevations with new snow accumulations in the alpine up to 15 cm on Tuesday. Reactive storm slabs and wind slabs are building with continued snow and strong southwest winds. Ridgelines are heavily corniced and could act as a trigger on the slope below. <br />A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 120 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow overlies moist snow surfaces. At higher elevations, this overlies slabs formed from last weekends snow that fell with strong southwesterly winds. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain and warming to ridge top elevations have created wet or moist snow in the top 20-30 cm of the snowpack that is likely to be covered by a light dusting of new snow by Wednesday morning. Only high alpine, north aspects (above 2000 m) may still be harboring dry snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels and daytime warming have created moist or wet snow surfaces on all but alpine, northerly aspects where 20 cm up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed by strong winds. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with moderate southerly wind. This snow rests on a crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Persistent slab avalanche activity on polar (north and east) aspects has dramatically decreased and solar (south and west) aspects are expected to be the most suspect over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow fell Saturday with light variable wind. This snow rests on crust that is present on all aspects below 2000 m, and extends up to about 2500 m on south facing aspects. The storm snow be sitting on surface hoar on polar aspects (north and east) at upper elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) which is now 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This layer is composed of a crust on all aspects at low elevations. At upper elevations the layer presents as a crust on solar aspects (those that face south and west) and buried surface hoar on polar aspects. The reactivity of this interface has been steadily decreasing and while the likelihood of triggering a deeper persistent slab avalanche is lowering, the consequence of doing so remains high. Persistent slab avalanche activity on polar (north and east) aspects has dramatically decreased and solar (south and west) aspects are expected to be the most suspect over the next few days.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are still being reported by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow is sitting on previous moist snow surfaces. Recent winds from the southeast and southwest have sifted the new snow, forming isolated wind slabs in leeward terrain features and slopes. With freezing levels rising, surface snow will likely become moist through the day. Up to 40 cm of snow that fell last weekend overlies melt-freeze crusts that formed over the past few weeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A supportive melt/freeze crust was found on all aspects up to 2000m and even higher on solar aspects.  Good skiing with dry snow was found on due North aspects in sheltered areas above 2100m. It was a little bit of work to get to it because of the hard melt/freeze crust in the morning.  The beginning of corn snow was forming with the daytime heating in open terrain at lower elevations. The March 15th crust down 30 to 50cm on solar aspects  in isolated terrain is still a concern, thus approaching these slopes with caution is advised. Cornices are large and are feeling the heat of the April sun, and should be avoided.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain is now falling as snow at upper elevations building reactive storm slabs which sit over a predominant thick crust. It is difficult to predict where and when rain will switch to snow, but expect the transition to happen and by Wednesday and most precipitation will fall as snow above 1200 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain has saturated and weakened the upper snowpack. Forecast rain will continue this trend. The mid and lower snowpack are strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, and there may be a bit of preserved cold snow on high elevation north facing features. There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, but they have not been problematic. Fresh wind slabs have started to form immediately lee of ridge crest, continued new snow and wind should fuel their development through the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it fail. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, and there may be a bit of preserved cold snow on high elevation north facing features. In the last few days wind slabs 10 to 50 cm in depth have formed in the alpine that sit on a mix of crusts and possibly surface hoar. Continued new snow and wind should fuel their development through the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Just under the wind slabs there are now a few different crusts, but they have not been problematic.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it fail. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 25 cm of storm snow to become moist up to ridge top elevations, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. Below this, the mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels have caused the recent 10-15 cm of storm snow to become moist up to about 2000 m, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m in some areas, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and rain have moistened the snow surface on all aspects and at all elevations with new snow accumulations in the alpine up to 15 cm. Reactive storm slabs and wind slabs are building with continued snow and strong southwest winds. Ridgelines are heavily corniced and if they fail they would act as a trigger on the slope below. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 120 cm down. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span><span class="s_AA239A9B"><br /></span><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of new snow overlies moist snow surfaces. At higher elevations, this overlies slabs formed from last weekends snow that fell with strong southwesterly winds. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain and warming to ridge top elevations have created wet or moist snow in the top 20-30 cm of the snowpack that is likely to be covered by 5-15 cm of new snow by Thursday morning. The new snow and strong southeasterly winds are expected to form fresh storm slabs reactive to human triggers. In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rising freezing levels and daytime warming have created moist or wet snow surfaces on all but alpine, northerly aspects where 20 cm up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed by strong winds. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, and there may be a bit of preserved cold snow on high elevation north facing features. There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, but they have not been problematic. Fresh wind slabs have started to form immediately lee of ridge crest, continued new snow and wind should fuel their development through the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it fail. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, and there may be a bit of preserved cold snow on high elevation north facing features. There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, but they have not been problematic. Fresh wind slabs have started to form immediately lee of ridge crest, continued new snow and wind should fuel their development through the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it fail. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 15 cm of new snow is sitting on previous moist snow surfaces. Recent winds from the southeast and southwest have sifted the new snow, forming isolated wind slabs in leeward terrain features and slopes. With freezing levels rising, surface snow will likely become moist through the day. Up to 40 cm of snow that fell last weekend overlies melt-freeze crusts that formed over the past few weeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A supportive melt/freeze crust was found on all aspects up to 2000m and even higher on solar aspects.  This crust did begin to break down later in the morning as temps warmed up.  Good skiing with dry snow was found on due North aspects in sheltered areas above 2100m. The beginning of corn snow was forming with the daytime heating in open terrain at lower elevations. The March 15th crust down 30 to 50cm on solar aspects in isolated terrain is still a concern, thus approaching these slopes with caution is advised. Cornices are large and are feeling the heat of the April sun, and should be avoided.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Rain is now falling as snow at upper elevations building reactive storm slabs which sit over a predominant thick crust. It is difficult to predict where and when rain will switch to snow, but expect the transition to happen and by Wednesday and most precipitation will fall as snow above 1300 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain has saturated and weakened the upper snowpack. Forecast rain will continue this trend. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 5-15 cm of cold snow can be found on high elevation north facing aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the most recently crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think larger triggers such as; sleds, step-down from a surface avalanche or, a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 5-15 cm of cold snow can be found on high elevation north facing features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts within the top 40 cm of the snowpack, with only the mostly recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or cornice collapse)</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Moist snow up to ridge top elevations, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on north aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity on this layer. Below this, the mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust exists near the bottom of the snowpack, but this layer has been inactive for some time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Moist snow up to ridge top elevations, with minimal overnight re-freeze. Below 1400 m, rain has soaked the snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Multiple crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on sheltered north aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Warm temperatures and rain have moistened the snow surface on all aspects and at all elevations with new snow accumulations in the alpine up to 15 cm and building. Reactive storm slabs and wind slabs are building with continued snow and strong southwest winds. Ridgelines are heavily corniced and if they fail they would act as a trigger on the slope below. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 120 cm down. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m. Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of new snow overlies moist snow surfaces and is accumulating. At higher elevations, this overlies wind slabs formed from last weekends snow that fell with strong southwesterly winds. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of new snow and strong southeasterly winds have formed fresh storm slabs.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of new snow and strong southeasterly winds have formed fresh wind slabs on lee features at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and producing very large avalanches in northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 10-15 cm of cold snow can still be found on high elevation northerly facing features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the most recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 10-25 cm of cold snow can still be found on high elevation northerly facing aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the most recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30cm of moist new snow is sitting on previous moist or wet snow surfaces. Recent winds from the southeast and southwest have sifted the new snow, forming isolated wind slabs in leeward terrain features and slopes. With freezing levels rising, surface snow will likely become moist through the day. Up to 40 cm of snow that fell last weekend overlies melt-freeze crusts that formed over the past few weeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">10cm of new snow over the past 24hrs with only light easterly winds.  This new snow is overlying a widespread supportive melt freeze up to 2100m and up to the peaks on the solar aspects.  Windslabs are still being encountered along ridgelines and in cross loaded features.  Use caution in thinner or unsupported terrain near these areas.  The March 15th layer is down 50cm and is slowly gaining strength but we are still treating this layer cautiously.  Dig down and be curious with it and evaluate it before committing.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Heavy precipitation is forecast Friday. If it falls as snow at upper elevations, it will build reactive storm slabs which sit over a predominant thick crust. It is difficult to predict where and when rain will switch to snow, but expect the transition to happen as you approach mountain top.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below tree line, a spring snowpack exists. Rain has saturated upper snowpack. Forecast rain will continue this trend. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 5-15 cm of cold snow can be found on high elevation north facing aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the most recently crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think larger triggers such as; sleds, step-down from a surface avalanche or, a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 5-25 cm of cold snow can be found on high elevation north facing features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts within the top 40 cm of the snowpack, with only the mostly recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 40 to 90 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or cornice collapse)</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-15 cm of recent storm and moderate winds have formed wind slabs sitting on hard crusts on lee features at treeline and above which may be reactive to human triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are some reports of a surface hoar layer roughly 100 cm deep on sheltered northerly aspects at treeline, but no recent avalanche activity has been reported on this layer. Below this, the mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust can be found near the bottom of the snowpack which has been inactive for some time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm recent storm snow and moderate variable winds have formed small wind slabs on a variety of aspects sitting on hard crusts on lee features at treeline and above. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Numerous crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. Some parts of the region may have a surface hoar layer roughly 60 cm deep on sheltered northerly aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-25cm of new snow Friday has been redistributed by strong to extreme southwest winds. Reactive storm slabs and wind slabs built with continued snow and wind over the past 2 days. Ridgelines are heavily corniced and if they fail they would act as a trigger on the slope below. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 120 cm down. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m. Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-30 cm of new snow overlies moist snow surfaces. At higher elevations, this overlies wind slabs formed from last weekends snow that fell with strong southwesterly winds. On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of recent storm snow and strong variable winds have formed wind slabs on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of recent storm snow and strong southeasterly winds have formed fresh wind slabs on lee features at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and produced very large avalanches in the far northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2300 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 20-30 cm of cold snow can still be found on high elevation northerly facing features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern with new snow in wind-loaded areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 70 to 110 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A thin surface crust is now present on all aspects to at least 2000 m. This crust likely goes even higher on south facing aspects, while 10-25 cm of cold snow can still be found on high elevation northerly facing aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 100 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive last week, but has not produced any avalanche activity in the last few days. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30cm of moist new snow is sitting on previous moist snow or crust surfaces . Recent winds from the southeast and southwest have sifted the new snow, forming isolated wind slabs in leeward terrain features and slopes. With freezing levels rising, surface snow will likely become moist through the day. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">SW winds increased in alpine overnight and into the morning building windslabs up to 20cm thick in lee features. Recent snow is overlying a supportive MFC that is 4-6cm thick up to 2200m. All aspects were moist up to 2000m by midday and moist snow suspected up to the peaks on solar. Hard sudden planar  results on the March 15th crust down 50cm at 2200m on a SE aspect at treeline.  Start early when travel on the crusts is good and fast</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Heavy precipitation is forecast Friday afternoon and evening. If it falls as snow at upper elevations, it will build reactive storm slabs which sit over a predominant thick crust for Saturday. It is difficult to predict where and when rain will switch to snow, but expect the transition to happen as you approach mountain top.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below tree line, a spring snowpack exists. Rain has saturated upper snowpack. Forecast rain will continue this trend. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 10-20 cm of new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2300 m (and possibly higher on south-facing slopes), while 30-45 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the most recently crust posing a concern for the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 70 to 120 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has not produced any avalanche activity in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think larger triggers such as; sleds, step-down from a surface avalanche or, a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are considered dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 5-15 cm on new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2000 m (and possibly higher on south-facing slopes), while 20-30 cm can be found at higher elevations (and up to 50 cm in some areas in the northwest of the region). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts within the top 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the mostly recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 50 to 90 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has produced only isolated avalanche activity in last week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or cornice collapse)</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are considered dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of recent storm snow and moderate winds have formed wind slabs sitting on hard crusts on lee features at treeline and above which may be reactive to human triggers. The upper snowpack contains numerous crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust can be found near the bottom of the snowpack which has been inactive for some time. This layer may be triggered by large triggers, such as a falling cornice, or by a major warm-up to the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm recent storm snow and moderate variable winds have formed small wind slabs on a variety of aspects sitting on hard crusts on lee features at treeline and above. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Numerous crusts exist within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled midpack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30 to 40 cm of new snow between Thursday and Saturday has been redistributed by strong south winds, forming reactive storm and wind slabs up to 1 m deep.  Ridgelines are heavily corniced and if they fail they could trigger slabs on slopes below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 140 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution but has recently produced large avalanches. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 50 cm of snow has fallen in the region between Thursday and Saturday.  This snow overlies a thick and hard melt-freeze crust.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile. At low elevations below treeline, recent rain has created moist or wet snow conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. This layer is spotty in its distribution. It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of recent storm snow and strong variable winds have formed wind slabs on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-15 cm of recent storm snow and strong southeasterly winds have formed fresh wind slabs on lee features at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crust layers on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slabs have stepped down to these facets and produced very large avalanches in the far northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 15-25 cm of new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2300 m (and possibly higher on south aspects). While 30-50 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations in the alpine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern with new storm snow at upper elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 70 to 120 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has not produced any avalanche in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are generally considered dormant at this time but may be starting to become reactive to large triggers, such as a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A dusting of new snow covers a supportive crust on all aspects to at least 2100 m (and possibly higher on south aspects), while 20-40 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper 50 cm of the snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern with the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 60 to 140 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely but has not produced any avalanche activity in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January may be starting to become reactive to very large triggers. A recent cornice collapse is believe to have initiated a slab release on an early season layer, 300 cm deep. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40 to 50 cm of recent snow sits on a hard melt-freeze crust.  Strong south winds formed wind slabs in lee terrain features at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack below this is generally well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">SW winds increased in alpine overnight and into the morning building windslabs 20-25cm thick in lee features in the Alpine and treeline. The recent snow (10-15cm at treeline and above on Saturday and 10cm on Friday) is overlying a supportive MFC that is 4-6cm thick up to 2200m and up to the peaks on solar aspects We are finding good &quot;dust on crust&quot; skiing on top of this crust. Corncies are LARGE right now and a few have collapsed recently with the warmer weather. Start early and be home early before the snow begins to melt and settle and loose stability in the warmer temps or the solar radiation. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 45 mm of rain fell at lower elevations on Friday night.  Some or all of this precipitation likely fell as snow at higher elevations, building reactive storm slabs that sit on a thick crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below tree line, a spring snowpack exists. Rain has saturated the upper snowpack. Forecasted rain will continue this trend.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 20-40 cm of new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2300 m (and possibly higher on south-facing slopes), while 50-60 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper snowpack, with only the most recently crust posing a concern for the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 80 to 120 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has not produced any avalanche activity in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think larger triggers such as; sleds, step-down from a surface avalanche or, a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are considered dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 10-20 cm on new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2000 m (and possibly higher on south-facing slopes), while 20-30 cm can be found at higher elevations (and up to 60 cm in some areas in the northwest of the region). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts within the upper snowpack, with only the mostly recently buried crust posing a concern in wind-loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 50 to 90 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has produced only isolated avalanche activity in last week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or cornice collapse)</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are considered dormant at this time. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-25 cm of new snow and moderate winds have formed storm slabs reactive to human triggers. This storm snow overlies numerous crusts in the upper 100 cm of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-pack is generally well settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A layer of sugary facets around a crust can be found near the bottom of the snowpack which has been dormant for some time. Large triggers, such as a falling cornice, or a major warm-up to the snowpack could trigger this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of new snow and moderate winds have formed fresh storm slabs which are most reactive in wind effected terrain. These storm slabs overlie numerous crusts within the top 100 cm of the snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A well settled mid-pack sits above sugary facets in many parts of the region, especially thin snowpack areas.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30 to 40 cm of recent snow has been redistributed by strong south winds, forming reactive wind slabs up to 1 m deep in lee terrain features.  Sun, rain, and warm air temperatures on Sunday moistened the snow surface, which will freeze into a melt-freeze crust on all aspects up to at least 1800 m.  Snowfall on Monday will fall on these surfaces.  Ridgelines are heavily corniced and if they fail they could trigger slabs on slopes below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 60 to 140 cm. Although this layer is spotty in its distribution and avalanches haven’t been reported on it since early April, professionals are treating it seriously and avoiding terrain because of it.  It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30 to 50 cm of recent snow has been redistributed by strong south winds, forming reactive wind slabs up to 1 m deep in lee terrain features.  Sun, rain, and warm air temperatures on Sunday moistened the snow surface, which will freeze into a melt-freeze crust on all aspects up to at least 1800 m.  Snowfall on Monday will fall on these surfaces.  On ridges, cornices are reported to be large and fragile.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer consisting of surface hoar, facets, and/or a melt-freeze crust from late March is now buried about 50 to 100 cm. Although this layer is spotty in its distribution and avalanches haven’t been reported on it since early April, professionals are treating it seriously and avoiding terrain because of it.  It is mostly likely to be problematic on west, north, and east aspects between 1900 m and 2250 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid and lower snowpack are well-settled and strong.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of recent storm snow and strong variable winds have formed wind slabs on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lingering wind slabs on convex features below ridgetops may still be reactive to human triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Weak layers buried around March 19th are roughly 40 cm below the surface (up to 100 cm in deeper snowpack areas). These weak layers include surface hoar on shaded aspects at high elevations and hard crusts on solar aspects and below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets are found in shallow, rocky snowpack areas. Storm slab avalanches have &quot;stepped-down&quot; to these facets and produced very large avalanches in the far northern parts of the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 15-30 cm of new snow overlies a crust on all aspects to at least 2300 m (and possibly higher on south aspects). While 40-50 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations in the alpine. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern with recent storm snow at upper elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 80 to 120 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely reactive but has not produced any avalanche in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January are generally considered dormant at this time but may be starting to become reactive to large triggers, such as a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 10-20 cm of new snow covers a supportive crust on all aspects to at least 2100 m (and possibly higher on south aspects), while 30-60 cm of storm snow can be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are now a few different crusts in the upper snowpack, with only the upper, most-recently buried crust posing a concern with the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is some lingering concern around the mid-March Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) in the alpine where it is found 100 to 150 cm below the surface. This buried crust/surface hoar interface was widely but has not produced any avalanche activity in the past week. It is likely trending towards dormancy, but we need to keep it in the back of our minds as it is capable of producing large avalanches should it be triggered (think step-down from a surface avalanche or a cornice collapse).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper persistent weak layers from December and January may be starting to become reactive to very large triggers. A recent cornice collapse is believe to have initiated a slab release on an early season layer, 300 cm deep. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs may linger in lee alpine terrain features, which were produced from strong south winds. Rain to at least 1800 m produced wet snow on all aspects, which will freeze into a melt-freeze crust at higher elevations. New snow will fall on these surfaces. Numerous other melt-freeze crusts exist in the upper snowpack from rain, sun, and warming over the past month. The snowpack below this is generally well-settled and strong.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At lower elevations below treeline, a spring snowpack exists.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 40cm of storm snow in the last 48hr is settling rapidly. This storm snow was settling into a soft slab at tree line and above and overlies a melt/freeze on solar aspects.. Moist snow was encountered at 2100m.&nbsp; Even with a cloudy day forecast for Monday, expect the solar radiation to come through and affect the snow on solar aspects.&nbsp; Carefully evaluate the slopes at tree line and in the alpine for slabs.&nbsp; If the solar radiation is strong or if the sun poles out, expect loose wet avalanches to occur. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall forecasted Sunday night into Monday will form new storm slabs.  The new snow will fall on a sun crust on southerly aspects formed by Sunday’s sunshine.   Elsewhere, the snow will overlie storm slabs formed on Friday or wind slabs formed from strong south winds.  A thick melt-freeze crust exists below this, and is about 40 to 60 cm deep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below about 1000 m, a spring snowpack exists.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40-80 cm of recent snow sits on two layers of feathery surface hoar that are approximately buried 15 cm apart. One or both of these may be associated with a crust on south aspects. The surface hoar is mostly found at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Snowpack test results on these layers are showing a variety of planar results which indicate that this interface may be susceptible to human triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. This crust is associated with sugary weak faceted crystals and has shown some reactivity in the South Columbia region. Suspect slopes and terrain are open bowls that host a rocky thin to thick snowpack in the alpine or upper treeline. Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation, many areas have over 200 cm in the alpine, between 100-170 cm at treeline, and 10-100 cm below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Check out the </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/blogs?category=forecaster+blog" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">FORECASTER BLOG</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> as it will express our uncertainties with the current snowpack in this region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in this region. Approximately 20 cm of recent snow fell earlier this week which may have been blown into wind slabs on exposed northerly and northeasterly slopes. Expect loose dry, unconsolidated snow sluffing from steeper, rocky terrain features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In some places, there are two layers of feathery surface hoar being reported, one around 20 cm below the surface and one down 35 cm. One or both of these may be associated with a crust on south aspects. The most likely places to trigger one of these layers is in deeper snow areas in shady spots on smooth slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A prominent feature of the snowpack is a combination of a crust and underlying sugary, faceted snow found near the base of the snowpack. It may be possible to release an avalanche on smooth slopes in the alpine.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 7 cm of snow overnight adding to the 55 cm of recent storm snow that fell earlier this week. Recent south and southwest winds have formed pockets of wind slab on leeward terrain, however the winds have switched to a northerly direction and are potentially redistributing the new snow on opposite. slopes. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. We have a lot of uncertainty around this weak layer, its distribution is spotty. I suspect it could exist on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack a melt-freeze crust exists at treeline and into the alpine on all aspects. Reports indicate that the slab above this crust may be more reactive on northeasterly aspects. I would investigate this bond before jumping onto large, planar terrain features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack you'll likely find melt-freeze crusts and sugary weak facet crystals. At treeline the average snowpack depths are 80 cm. These depths taper rapidly at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Check out the new forecaster blog post </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/blogs?category=forecaster+blog" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">&quot;The Buzz&quot;.</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> Discussing uncertainty with what lies beneath...</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent new snow up to 20 cm and southwest winds have formed pockets of wind slab on leeward terrain, however the winds have switched to a northeasterly direction. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. We have a lot of uncertainty around this weak layer and its distribution. If you were to find it, I suspect it could exist on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mixed layer melt-freeze crusts and sugary facets buried late October can be found at the base of the snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. This layer has not been active, but there is potential for slab avalanches on this layer given the current snowpack structure. I suspect its likely found in terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases. Snow depths below tree line are generally below the threshold depth to produce avalanche.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The storm from early last week brought intense precipitation that rain-soaked the existing snowpack up to about 1800 m and left 20 to 30 cm of wet snow in place up to 2000 m. Above 2000 m the storm produced around 60 cm of new snow. The upper 20 to 30 cm of snow is reportedly dry in the alpine. Strong to extreme wind during the storm formed storm slabs and cornices in high elevation alpine terrain. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, 50 to 200 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. Little is known about the reactivity of this interface in the alpine. This crust may be associated with weak faceted crystals in some places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm from early last week produced ample precipitation, however it mostly fell as rain. Extreme out of the south and southwest likely produced widespread cornices and wind slabs in lee terrain during the storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/123d0050-6ad8-4717-af91-7fde0857e722" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">A MIN from Friday</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> suggests that it's skiable from about 1600 metres on up. Between 1600 and 2000 m there is 5 to 10 cm of low density snow over a 5 cm breakable crust. Above 2000m is reportedly skiing well and alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm. Near the ground there is a crust/facet interface, but little is known about the reactivity of this layer. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">In many areas, other than the highest accessible alpine areas, the entire snowpack may be moist. As temperatures are cooling, the snowpack is beginning to freeze from the surface downwards. Some reports indicate there may be an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Recent storm snow amounts range from 40-80 cm. There may be some lingering wind slaps in exposed, alpine terrain, but the primary concern in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and/or sun crust depending on the aspect of the terrain. This layer is below the recent storm snow and is down roughly 30-70 cm. The surface hoar is most pronounced at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered, north facing alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no recent reports in this region of reactivity on this layer. However, the South Columbia region has had two large avalanches on this layer, one triggered by a snowmobile and the other a bomb. Steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Total snowpack depths vary greatly with elevation. Recent reports show depths of 120-230cm in the alpine, 90-160 cm at treeline and 10-120 cm below treeline. Rocks, stumps, and open creeks remain significant hazards at treeline and below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Check out our latest </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/blogs/the-buzz" target="_blank"><span class="s_69909980">FORECASTER BLOG</span></a><span class="s_1681A555"> for more insight into the uncertainty we have with the surface hoar layer in this region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Where to start? Lets mix it up and start with alpine windslabs. These are widespread in distribution, but the density will vary with exposure to wind. Expect harder slabs in gullies and immediate lee areas. Next, we'll tackle treeline windslabs. Like the alpine, these will be found near ridges and gullies, but expect them to quickly fade as you move away from  the treeline/alpine border. Lastly, lets chat about the Oct 26 layer. This is widespread, but its condition seems to vary from area to area. In some places it is complete garbage- a collection of facets and depth hoar waiting to crumble. In others, it's still intact and even supportive. The bottom line? Dig to check it out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The warm storm from early last week produced over 200 mm of precipitation that mostly fell as rain. Extreme winds out of the south/southwest likely produced weak cornices along many ridgelines during the storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with around 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In the alpine, there may be a crust lower in the snowpack. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40-80 cm of recent snow sits on two layers of feathery surface hoar that are approximately buried 15 cm apart. One or both of these may be associated with a crust on south aspects. The surface hoar is mostly found at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Snowpack test results on these layers are showing a variety of planar results which indicate that this interface may be susceptible to human triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. This crust is associated with sugary weak faceted crystals and has shown some reactivity in the South Columbia region. Suspect slopes and terrain are open bowls that host a rocky thin to thick snowpack in the alpine or upper treeline. Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation, many areas have over 200 cm in the alpine, between 100-170 cm at treeline, and 10-100 cm below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in this region. Approximately 20 cm of recent snow fell earlier this week which may have been blown into wind slabs on exposed northerly and northeasterly slopes. Expect loose dry, unconsolidated snow sluffing from steeper, rocky terrain features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In some places, there are two layers of feathery surface hoar being reported, one around 20 cm below the surface and one down 35 cm. One or both of these may be associated with a crust on south aspects. The most likely places to trigger one of these layers is in deeper snow areas in shady spots on smooth slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A prominent feature of the snowpack is a combination of a crust and underlying sugary, faceted snow found near the base of the snowpack. It may be possible to release an avalanche on smooth slopes in the alpine.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 55 cm of recent snow sits on a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. A predominant crust can be found below this recent snow at treeline and into the alpine on all aspects. Reports indicate that the slab above this crust may be more reactive on northerly aspects. I would investigate this bond before jumping onto large, planar terrain features. We have a lot of uncertainty around this weak surface hoar layer, its distribution is spotty. I suspect that it could exist on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. At the bottom of the snowpack you'll likely find another crust and sugary weak facet crystals around it. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline the average snowpack depths are 80 cm. These depths taper rapidly at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region received up to 20 cm of snow over the past week. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab may exist on leeward slopes. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. We have a lot of uncertainty around the weak surface hoar layer and its distribution. I suspect it could exist on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. A mixed layer of melt-freeze crusts and sugary facets buried late October can be found at the base of the snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. This layer has not been active, but there is potential for slab avalanches on this layer given the current snowpack structure. Terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths would be most suspect.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases. Snow depths below tree line are generally below the threshold depth to produce avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The storm from early last week brought intense precipitation that rain-soaked the snowpack up to about 1800 m and left 20 to 30 cm of wet snow in place up to 2000 m. Above 2000 m the storm produced around 60 cm of new snow. The upper 20 to 30 cm of this snow is reportedly dry in the alpine. Strong to extreme south winds during the storm left behind thick wind slabs and fragile new cornice growth in high elevation alpine terrain. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, 50 to 200 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be associated with weak faceted crystals in some places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm from early last week produced ample precipitation, however it mostly fell as rain. Extreme out of the south and southwest likely produced widespread cornices and wind slabs in lee terrain during the storm. These problems are expected to be on a positive track toward stabilizing.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/123d0050-6ad8-4717-af91-7fde0857e722" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">A MIN from Friday</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> suggests that it's skiable from about 1600 metres on up. Between 1600 and 2000 m there is 5 to 10 cm of low density snow over a 5 cm breakable crust. Above 2000m is reportedly skiing well and alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm. Near the ground there is a crust/facet interface. Although little is known about the reactivity of this layer, recent observations in the north of the region show that it was reactive during last week's storm. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">10-15 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a thick, hard crust. Some reports indicate there may be an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a hard crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_A8FEC758"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There may be some lingering wind slaps in exposed, alpine terrain, but the primary concern in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and/or sun crust depending on the aspect of the terrain. This layer is down 30-70 cm and has been described as 'spotty' with regards to its distribution. It is most pronounced at treeline, but may be found in sheltered, north facing alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no recent reports in this region of reactivity on this layer. However, the South Columbia region has had two large avalanches on this layer, one triggered by a snowmobile and the other a bomb. Steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Total snowpack depths vary greatly with elevation. Recent reports show depths of 120-230cm in the alpine, 90-160 cm at treeline and 10-120 cm below treeline. Rocks, stumps, and open creeks remain significant hazards at treeline and below.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Check out our latest </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/blogs/the-buzz" target="_blank"><span class="s_69909980">FORECASTER BLOG</span></a><span class="s_1681A555"> for more insight into the uncertainty we have with the surface hoar layer in this region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm last weekend delivered 20 to 40 cm of snow that has settled out to about 30 cm of soft snow on the surface. At treeline, the total height of snow is now between 100 and 140 cm. At 40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a persistent weak layer that was buried on November 21st. This weak layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. This layer has been reactive in snowpack tests this week. A MIN report from the Kootenay Pass area </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/7b449a3e-4c92-4714-8908-2520b352f364" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(link here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> and a social media post </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KootenayBackcountryGuides/videos/vb.1576889842619599/332746360841352/?type=2&amp;theater" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(link here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Whitewater area on Thursday also show a concerning degree of reactivity at this layer. This surface hoar is thought to be widespread at treeline and it may be found in sheltered alpine features too.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. This crust has shown limited reactivity thus far, but observations are very limited.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 5cm of new snow fell Saturday night through to Sunday morning. Unfortunately this did little to improve the snowpack. For the rest of the snowpack.....hmmmm. Where to start? Lets mix it up and start with alpine windslabs. These are widespread in distribution, but the density will vary with exposure to wind. Expect harder slabs in gullies and immediate lee areas. Next, we'll tackle treeline windslabs. Like the alpine, these will be found near ridges and gullies, but expect them to quickly fade as you move away from the treeline/alpine border. Lastly, lets chat about the Oct 26 layer. This is widespread, but its condition seems to vary from area to area. In some places it is complete garbage- a collection of facets and depth hoar waiting to crumble. In others, it's still intact and even supportive. The bottom line? Dig to check it out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The warm storm early last week produced over 200 mm of precipitation that mostly fell as rain. This rain washed away much of the snowpack at lower elevations. The highest alpine terrain in the region more likely received heavy snowfall during the storm. This snowfall, paired with extreme winds out of the south/southwest is likely to have produced cornice growth along many ridgelines.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with around 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is likely now well bonded to the overlying storm snow. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40-80 cm of recent snow sits on two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) that are buried approximately 15-20 cm apart. These layers have both been associated with a sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is mostly found at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. This crust is associated with weak, faceted (sugary) snow and has shown some reactivity in the region. This layer is most prominent in the alpine but may exist into upper treeline elevations as well.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation, many areas have over 200 cm in the alpine, between 100-170 cm at treeline, and 10-100 cm below treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Approximately 20 cm of snow fell last week which may have been blown into wind slabs on exposed northerly and northeasterly slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 35-40cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A prominent feature of the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 55 cm of recent snow sits on a combination of crust and surface hoar. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The surface hoar is tricky to pin down because it is quite spotty in distribution, but it appears to be most prevalent on sheltered slopes at and above treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack lies another crust with weak sugary facets around it.  There is a great MIN Report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e4810306-5cfd-4874-8ac3-e85ce56c709a" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> that provides a good visual representation of the current snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline the average snowpack depth is 80 cm, with only thin coverage at lower elevation. </span><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region received up to 20 cm of snow over the past week. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab may exist on leeward slopes. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. We have a lot of uncertainty around the weak surface hoar layer and its distribution. I suspect it could exist on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. A mixed layer of melt-freeze crusts and sugary facets buried late October can be found at the base of the snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. This layer has not been active, but there is potential for slab avalanches on this layer given the current snowpack structure. Terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths would be most suspect.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases. Snow depths below tree line are generally below the threshold depth to produce avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Below the surface, the same cold has been transforming the storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 20 cm at 1800-2000 metres, where it sits above a strong rain crust, to upwards of 30-40 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust is not present. Here, the storm snow shows good signs of bonding well to the now well-settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, about 50-150 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be layered with weak faceted crystals in places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Days of increasingly cool and clear weather have likely grown a new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface in most areas. Below the surface, it can be said with more certainty that the same cold has been transforming the storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 5-10 cm at 1600-2000 metres, where it sits above a rain crust, to around 20-30 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust may not be present. Here, the storm snow is suspected to be bonding well to a settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Above 2000m, alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm, although recent reports suggest about half these depths around treeline in the south of the region. A crust/facet interface can be found near the ground in the alpine, but this may again be most prevalent in the north of the region. Although little is known about the reactivity of this layer, recent observations in the north of the region show that it was reactive during last week's storm. It is thought that there is generally insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated in this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the adjacent Northwest Inland region. 10-15 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a thick, hard crust. In some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. Check out this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/193d5dc9-b728-433a-8a83-2f117facde1c" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Anderson Cabin near Terrace.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface Hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated by this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a hard crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There may be some lingering wind slabs in the alpine, but the primary concern in the snowpack is a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This weak layer is down 30-80 cm and it is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no recent reports of reactivity on this layer in the North Columbia, however there has been some avalanche activity on this layer in the South Columbia region over the past 10 days. Steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Total snowpack depths vary greatly with elevation. Recent reports show depths of 120-230cm in the alpine, 90-180 cm at treeline and 10-120 cm below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There may be some lingering wind slabs in exposed, alpine terrain, but the primary concern in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-70 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may exist in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no reports of reactivity on this layer in the Cariboos, however, this layer may be reactive in isolated locations such as steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack. Small avalanches could have the potential to step down to this crust resulting in large, destructive avalanches</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation where rocks, stumps, and open creeks remain significant hazards.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There are limited snowpack observations within this region, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm last weekend delivered 20 to 40 cm of snow that has settled out to about 30 cm of soft snow on the surface. At treeline, the total height of snow is now between 100 and 140 cm. At 40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a persistent weak layer that was buried on November 21st. This weak layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. This layer has shown ongoing but variable reactivity in snowpack tests in the past week. A MIN report from the Kootenay Pass area </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/7b449a3e-4c92-4714-8908-2520b352f364" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(link here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> and a social media post </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KootenayBackcountryGuides/videos/vb.1576889842619599/332746360841352/?type=2&amp;theater" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(link here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Whitewater area on Thursday highlight some of the more concerning recent results. This surface hoar is thought to be widespread at treeline and it may be found in sheltered alpine features too.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. This crust has shown limited reactivity thus far, but observations are very limited.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The warm storm early last week produced over 200 mm of precipitation that mostly fell as rain. This rain washed away much of the snowpack at lower elevations. The highest alpine terrain in the region more likely received heavy snowfall during the storm. This snowfall, paired with extreme winds out of the south/southwest is likely to have produced cornice growth along many ridgelines.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with around 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is likely now well bonded to the overlying storm snow. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">35-65 cm of snow sits on a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is mostly found at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. This crust is associated with weak, faceted (sugary) snow and has shown some reactivity in the region. This layer is most prominent in the alpine but may exist into upper treeline elevations as well.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation, many areas have over 200 cm in the alpine, between 100-170 cm at treeline, and 10-100 cm below treeline.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Approximately 20 cm of snow fell last week which may have been blown into wind slabs on exposed north and northeast facing slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A prominent feature of the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer mainly exists in the alpine but it may be found at upper treeline elevations as well.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine and tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 55 cm of recent snow sits on a combination of crust and surface hoar. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The surface hoar is tricky to pin down because it is quite spotty in distribution, but it appears to be most prevalent on sheltered slopes at and above treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack lies another crust with weak sugary facets around it. There is a great MIN Report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e4810306-5cfd-4874-8ac3-e85ce56c709a" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> that provides a good visual representation of the current snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline the average snowpack depth is 80 cm, with only thin coverage at lower elevation. </span><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region received up to 20 cm of snow over the past seven days. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab may exist on leeward slopes. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We have a lot of uncertainty around the weak surface hoar layer and its distribution, but it's most likely present on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mixed layer of melt-freeze crusts and sugary facets buried late October can be found at the base of the snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. This layer has not been active, but there is potential for slab avalanches on this layer given the current snowpack structure. Terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths would be most suspect.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases. Snow depths below treeline are generally below the threshold depth required to produce avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Increasing sunshine and warmth are now expected to melt and replace this surface hoar with a new crust on steeper sun exposed aspects and mid elevations that see above freezing temperatures. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Below the surface, the recent cold has been transforming last week's storm snow into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 20 cm at 1800-2000 metres, where it sits above a strong rain crust, to upwards of 30-40 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust is not present. Here, the storm snow shows good signs of bonding well to the now well-settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, about 50-150 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be layered with weak faceted crystals in places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Increasing sunshine and warmth are expected to form a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects over the coming days. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Beneath this surface and on shaded aspects, the recent pattern</span><span class="s_3FE45715"> of cold weather has been gradually transforming storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 5-10 cm at 1600-2000 metres, where it sits above a rain crust, to around 20-30 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust may not be present. Here, the storm snow is suspected to be bonding well to a settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Above 2000m, alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm, although recent reports suggest about half these depths around treeline in the south of the region. A crust/facet interface can be found near the ground in the alpine, but this may again be most prevalent in the north of the region. Although little is known about the reactivity of this layer, recent observations in the north of the region show that it was reactive during last week's storm. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated in this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the adjacent Northwest Inland region. Surface hoar formation has also been reported from the Ningunsaw zone. 10-15 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a thick, hard crust. In some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. Check out this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/193d5dc9-b728-433a-8a83-2f117facde1c" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Anderson Cabin near Terrace.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface Hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated by this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a hard crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60 to 120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The primary concern in the snowpack is a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This weak layer is down 30-50 cm and it is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no recent reports of reactivity on this layer in the North Columbia, however there has been some avalanche activity on this layer in the South Columbia region over the past 10 days. Steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Total snowpack depths vary greatly with elevation. Recent reports show depths of 120-230cm in the alpine, 90-180 cm at treeline and 10-120 cm below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">There may be some wind slabs in exposed, alpine terrain, but the primary concern in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-60 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may exist in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no reports of reactivity on this layer in the Cariboos, however it may be reactive in isolated locations such as steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Winds increased in the afternoon on Tuesday and the few cm of snow blew around returning the region to its moonscaped look.  Hard slabs that will fail in the facets overlying the October crust is the main concern at this time.  As the snowpack get the hollow feeling, especially in steeper or unsupported terrain such as between the pitches of ice climbs be heads up.  Low doesn't mean no...  Avalanches can still occur with human triggerring in certain areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with a suspected 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow. There is generally insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">35-65 cm of snow sits on a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is mostly found at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. While this layer is becoming more difficult to trigger, recent snowpack tests still suggest that it is worth keeping in mind for now, especially in wind loaded areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. This crust is associated with weak, faceted (sugary) snow and is most prominent in the alpine. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it is still worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation, many areas have over 200 cm in the alpine, between 100-170 cm at treeline, and 10-100 cm below treeline.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 20 cm of snow fell last week with minimal wind effect, however it may still be possible to find wind slabs on lee and cross loaded terrain features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another notable feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine and tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">It's thin out there, </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/bb9150e5-83c4-4a8a-8e65-d957f7872abc" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">check out this MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from our field team on Wednesday. Up to 55 cm of recent snow sits on a combination of crust and surface hoar. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The surface hoar is tricky to pin down because it is quite spotty in distribution, but it appears to be most prevalent on sheltered slopes at and above treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the bottom of the snowpack lies another crust with weak sugary facets around it. There is a great MIN Report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e4810306-5cfd-4874-8ac3-e85ce56c709a" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> that provides a good visual representation of the current snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At treeline the average snowpack depth is 80 cm, with only thin coverage at lower elevation. </span><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region received up to 20 cm of snow over the past seven days. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab may exist on leeward slopes. Below the surface exists a series of crusts and a feathery surface hoar layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We have a lot of uncertainty around the weak surface hoar layer and its distribution, but it's most likely present on sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mixed layer of melt-freeze crusts and sugary facets buried late October can be found at the base of the snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. This layer has not been active, but there is potential for slab avalanches on this layer given the current snowpack structure. Terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths would be most suspect.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases. Snow depths below treeline are generally below the threshold depth required to produce avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new crust on steeper sun exposed aspects while recent strong upper elevation winds scoured it from most alpine slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Below the surface, the recent cold has also been transforming last week's storm snow into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 20 cm at 1800-2000 metres, where it sits above a strong rain crust, to upwards of 30-40 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust is not present. Here, the storm snow shows good signs of bonding well to the now well-settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, about 50-150 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be layered with weak faceted crystals in places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a reportedly widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Beneath this surface, the </span><span class="s_3FE45715">cold temperatures have also been gradually transforming storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of storm snow increases in depth from about 5-10 cm at 1600-2000 metres, where it sits above a rain crust, to around 20-30 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust may not be present. Here, the storm snow is suspected to be bonding well to a settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Above 2000m, alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm, although recent reports suggest about half these depths around treeline in the south of the region. A crust/facet interface can be found near the ground in the alpine, but this may again be most prevalent in the north of the region. Although we have few observations of reactivity at this layer, it was a failure plane in several very large avalanches during last week's storm. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated in this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the adjacent Northwest Inland region. Surface hoar formation has also been reported from the Ningunsaw zone. 10-15 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a thick, hard crust. In some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. Check out this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/193d5dc9-b728-433a-8a83-2f117facde1c" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Anderson Cabin near Terrace.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations.</span><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface Hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated by this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a hard crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas too. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60 to 120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The primary concern in the snowpack is a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This weak layer is down 30-50 cm and it is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky alpine terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer, but the consequences are high as it would result in a large, full depth avalanche.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Total snowpack depths vary greatly with elevation. Recent reports show depths of 120-230cm in the alpine, 90-180 cm at treeline and 10-120 cm below treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">The primary concern in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-60 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may exist in sheltered alpine areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. There have been no reports of reactivity on this layer in the Cariboos, however it may be reactive in isolated locations such as steep, rocky terrain, with a shallow snowpack. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Days of cold temperatures have been gradually transforming about 30 cm of aging storm snow left on the surface from storms and flurries over the past couple of weeks into a layer of faceted (sugary, cohesionless) snow. At treeline, the total height of snow is between about 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At 50 to 70 cm below the surface, there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features similar surface hoar distribution over a more widespread temperature crust. These layers have shown ongoing but variable reactivity in snowpack tests in the past week. Both surface hoar layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. Observations of reactivity at this crust have been limited, but it has acted as the failure plane in several recent large avalanches in the neighbouring South Columbias.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Hard slabs that will fail in the facets overlying the October crust is the main concern at this time. As the snowpack get the hollow feeling, especially in steeper or unsupported terrain such as between the pitches of ice climbs be heads up. Low doesn't mean no... Avalanches can still occur with human triggerring in certain areas. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The South Coast region currently holds a minimal snowpack that remains well below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains as well as below about 1500 metres everywhere else. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with a suspected 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but low hazard doesn't mean no hazard. 35-65 cm of snow sits on a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic in places where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on south aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent moderate winds have created windslabs in the alpine and treeline in some areas.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another notable feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine and tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">It's thin out there, check out the </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/bb9150e5-83c4-4a8a-8e65-d957f7872abc" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> report from our field team on Wednesday. At treeline the average snowpack depth is about 80 cm, with only thin coverage at lower elevations. There is a great MIN Report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e4810306-5cfd-4874-8ac3-e85ce56c709a" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> that provides a visual representation of the current snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-50 cm of recent low density snow sits on a combination of crust and surface hoar. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. The surface hoar is tricky to pin down because it is quite spotty in distribution, but it appears to be most prevalent on sheltered slopes at and above treeline. At the bottom of the snowpack lies another crust with weak sugary facets around it.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region received up to 20 cm of snow over the past seven days. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab may exist on leeward slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On sheltered slopes in the alpine and at treeline, recent snow may be sitting above a weak surface hoar layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A mixed layer of crusts and sugary facets buried in late October can be found at the base of the snowpack. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Average snowpack depths at treeline are near 50 cm and taper quickly as elevation decreases.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have been growing a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects just as strong upper elevation winds scoured it from many alpine slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Below the surface, the recent cold has also been transforming last week's storm snow into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 15 cm at 1800-2000 metres, where it sits above a strong rain crust, to roughly 20-30 cm in the alpine above 2000 metres, where the crust is not present. Here, depending on exposure to recent outflow winds, the storm snow either shows good signs of bonding well to our well-settled mid snowpack or has been blown away entirely.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, about 100-200 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be layered with weak faceted crystals in places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Beneath the surface, the </span><span class="s_3FE45715">cold has also been transforming storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of storm snow increases in depth from about 5-10 cm at 1600-2000 metres, where it sits above a rain crust, to around 20 cm in the alpine above 2000 m, where the crust may not be present. Here, the storm snow is suspected to be bonding well to a settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Above 2000m, alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm, but recent reports suggest about half these depths around treeline in the south of the region. A crust/facet interface can be found near the ground in the alpine, but this may again be most prevalent in the north of the region. Although we have few observations of reactivity at this layer, it was a failure plane in several very large avalanches during last week's storm. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m, making for generally rugged travel conditions throughout the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated in this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the adjacent Northwest Inland region. Surface hoar formation has also been reported from the Ningunsaw zone. 10-15 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a thick, hard crust. In some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. Check out this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/193d5dc9-b728-433a-8a83-2f117facde1c" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> from the Anderson Cabin near Terrace.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There is an average of 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations.</span><span class="s_1681A555"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Surface hoar is beginning to form on the surface as indicated by this </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">MIN report</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. There is up to 20 cm of recent storm snow sitting on a hard crust at upper elevations. Expect to find an early season crust near the bottom of the snowpack in many areas too. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent reports suggest there is an average of 60 to 120 cm of snow in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but there is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-50 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer is most problematic where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination will most likely be found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky alpine terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">The snowpack is currently quite stable in most places, however there is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 20-60 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline.&nbsp; There have been no recent reports of reactivity on this layer. However, on large south facing features at treeline, the surface hoar may be sitting on top of the sun crust and should be treated with caution.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most likely areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Days of cold temperatures and increasingly clear skies have been growing a new layer of feathery surface hoar on the surface. Winds may have scoured some of this surface hoar from alpine slopes. The cold has also been transforming our roughly 20 cm of aging storm snow on the surface into a layer of faceted (weak, sugary) snow. At treeline, the height of snow is between about 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At 50 to 70 cm below the surface, there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features similar surface hoar distribution over a more widespread temperature crust. These layers have shown ongoing but variable reactivity in snowpack tests in the past week. Both surface hoar layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. Observations of reactivity at this crust have been limited, but it has acted as the failure plane in several large avalanches in the neighbouring South Columbias.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Hard slabs that will fail in the facets overlying the October crust is the main concern at this time. As the snowpack get the hollow feeling, especially in steeper or unsupported terrain such as between the pitches of ice climbs be heads up. Low doesn't mean no... Avalanches can still occur with human triggerring in certain areas.  Cooler temps are promoting widespread facetting....</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The South Coast region currently holds a minimal snowpack that remains below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains as well as below about 1500 metres everywhere else. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with a suspected 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but low hazard doesn't mean no hazard. 35-65 cm of snow sits on a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic in places where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on south aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent moderate winds have created wind slabs in the alpine and isolated treeline areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another notable feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine and tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 100 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the snowpack is a combination of weak sugary snow and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> for a visual representation of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 30-90 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions may range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab likely exist on leeward slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The bottom half of the snowpack is composed of weak sugary snow and crusts. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Days of cool, clear weather have been growing a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the snow surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects just as strong upper elevation winds scoured it from many alpine slopes.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Below the surface, the recent cold has also been transforming last week's storm snow into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of faceting storm snow increases in depth from about 20 cm at 1800-2000 m where it sits above a strong rain crust, to roughly 20-30 cm in the alpine above 2000 m, where the crust is not present. Here, depending on exposure to recent outflow winds, the storm snow either shows good signs of bonding well to our well-settled mid snowpack or has been blown away entirely.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Above 2000 m, about 100-200 cm of snow now sits on the early November melt-freeze crust. This crust may be layered with weak faceted crystals in places where it lies close to the ground. This is most likely to cause problems in glaciated terrain or on smoother, high elevation slopes where the summer snow did not melt out.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Days of cool, clear weather have grown a widespread new layer of feathery surface hoar crystals on the surface. Recent sunshine has likely replaced this surface hoar with a new sun crust on steeper sun exposed aspects. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the surface, the cold has also been transforming storm snow from last week into a layer of faceted (sugary) snow. This layer of storm snow increases in depth from about 5-10 cm at 1600-2000 m, where it sits above a rain crust, to around 20 cm in the alpine above 2000 m, where the crust may not be present. Here, the storm snow is suspected to be bonding well to a settled mid snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Above 2000 m, alpine snowpack depths are approaching 175 cm, but recent reports suggest about half these depths around treeline in the south of the region. A crust/facet interface can be found near the ground in the alpine, but this may again be most prevalent in the north of the region. Although we have few observations of reactivity at this layer, it was a failure plane in several very large avalanches during last week's storm. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m, making for generally rugged travel conditions throughout the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, but expect an average snow depth of 70-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There were reports of feathery surface hoar growing on the surface last weekend in the neighboring Northwest Inland region </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> and in Ningunsaw to the north. However, recent outflow winds have likely changed the snow surface conditions and formed stiff wind slabs in open terrain. A hard crust has been reported 10-15 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. Check out the MIN report from the Anderson Cabin near Terrace </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/193d5dc9-b728-433a-8a83-2f117facde1c" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have very limited snowpack observations, so it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations. Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There were reports of feathery surface hoar growing on the snow surface last weekend </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">, however, recent winds have likely changed the snow surface conditions and formed stiff wind slabs in open terrain. A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but there is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-50 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination will most likely be found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky alpine terrain, with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">The snowpack is currently quite stable in most places, however a buried weak layer still exists down 20-60 cm. This layer consists of a sun crust on steep south facing slopes, and/or surface hoar (feathery crystals). The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. The most likely place to trigger this layer is where the surface hoar is sitting on the crust. This combination is most likely found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most likely areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_1681A555">Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Days of cold temperatures and increasingly clear skies have been growing a new layer of feathery surface hoar on the surface. Winds may have scoured some of this surface hoar from alpine slopes. The cold has also been transforming our roughly 20 cm of aging storm snow on the surface into a layer of faceted (weak, sugary) snow. At treeline, the height of snow is between about 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features similar surface hoar distribution over a more widespread temperature crust. These layers have shown ongoing but variable reactivity in snowpack tests in the past week. Both surface hoar layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. Observations of reactivity at this crust have been limited, but it has acted as the failure plane in several large avalanches in the neighbouring South Columbias.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A partial definition of low: &quot;small avalanches in isolated areas or extreme terrain&quot;. At the moment these small avalanches are almost certainly going to start within the surface wind slab layers near alpine ridges. Regardless of the layer responsible, in the wrong terrain (steep and unsupported) there is still avalanche hazard. Lots of surface facetting due to the cold. Treeline elevation windslabs are starting to break down from this facetting.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The South Coast region currently holds a minimal snowpack that remains below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains as well as below about 1500 meters everywhere else. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with a suspected 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In these areas there may be a crust lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but low hazard doesn't mean no hazard. 35-65 cm of snow sits on a layer of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic in places where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on south aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent moderate winds have created wind slabs in the alpine and isolated treeline areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another notable feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine and tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 100 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions range from soft power, to hard wind slab, and some sun crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The main concern is the snowpack is a combination of weak sugary snow and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> for a visual representation of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 30-90 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions may range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab likely exist on leeward slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The bottom half of the snowpack is composed of weak sugary snow and crusts. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">In the alpine, snowpack depths are around 150-200 cm. A variable surface layer consisting of a thin sun crust on solar terrain, surface hoar in sheltered areas, and pockets of wind slab in lee features overlies an upper snowpack of 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. New snow is not expected to bond well with this surface layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">At bottom of the snowpack, a crust buried at the beginning of November is down 100-120 cm and is unreactive to snowpack tests, in higher elevations it looks to be breaking down. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the alpine, snowpack depths are around 120-180 cm near the Duffey, with snowpack depths lower as you move south through the region. A variable surface consisting of a thin sun crust in solar terrain, surface hoar in sheltered areas, and pockets of wind slab in lee features, overlies an upper snowpack of 10-25 cm of low density faceted snow. New snow is not expected to bond well with this surface layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At bottom of the snowpack, a crust buried at the beginning of November is unreactive to snowpack tests. This layer is most prevalent in the north of the region and looks to be breaking down at higher elevations. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevation and are making for generally rugged travel conditions throughout the region.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will accumulate as a series of storms bring much needed snow to the region. With strong winds in the forecast expect thicker wind deposits at high elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the feathery surface hoar crystals and soft sugary snow that have been sitting on the surface for the past week.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have limited snowpack observations, but expect snow depths ranging from 70-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will gradually accumulate as a series of storms bring snow to the region this week. The combination of new snow and strong winds out of the south will form thicker wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the feathery surface hoar crystals and soft sugary snow that have been sitting on the surface for the past week </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The snowpack is generally stable right now, but there is a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. This layer is down 30-50 cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination will most likely be found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky, alpine terrain with a shallow snowpack are the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Check out this </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCGgdRi3DN8&amp;fbclid=IwAR3LEHKn5HkFthUKKrtVTn-f8Rixvgu42jjJteFxPnVwUar0Ms-az_MHb6Y" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">great video</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> that summarizes conditions in the Whitewater backcountry. Ongoing cold temperatures and clear skies have formed feathery surface hoar that sits on top of the snowpack. The cold has also been transforming the upper 20 cm of snow into weak sugary facets. At treeline, the height of snow is between about 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features similar surface hoar distribution over a more widespread temperature crust. Both layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine features. These layers are trending towards dormancy, but may remain problematic on steep solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a thick melt-freeze crust that formed near the end of October. Observations of reactivity at this crust have been limited, but it previously acted as a failure plane in several large avalanches in the South Columbias.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The snowpack has been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500m elevation. Incoming snow is not expected to bond well with a recently formed crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">In alpine areas near Squamish, up to of 70cm settled snow is on the ground. In these areas, a crust is lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Increasing high elevation winds are expected to be forming new wind slabs on the surface in the alpine. Beneath the surface, the snowpack is generally stable but does hold a lingering weak layer about 35-65 cm deep. This layer consists mainly of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals that is most prominent at treeline, but may also be found in sheltered alpine areas. Although this surface hoar is gradually healing into the snowpack, recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may remain problematic in places where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust. This combination is most likely found on south aspects at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent moderate winds have created wind slabs in the alpine and isolated treeline areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another major feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 100 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions range from soft power, to hard wind slab, and some sun crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report for a visual representation of the snowpack </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. The main concern is a combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 30-90 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions may range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab likely exist on leeward slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The bottom half of the snowpack is composed of weak facets and crusts. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snowfall beginning Sunday has added up to 30cm around the region. The new snow has buried a weak surface layer sitting over 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow and the new snow is initially not expected to bond well with the older snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 150-200 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations (starting around 1800m).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall starting Sunday has deposited up to 15 cm at higher elevations in the region. This has buried a weak, variable surface layer covering 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is initially not expected to bond well with the older snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 120-180 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will accumulate as a series of storms bring much needed snow to the region. With strong winds in the forecast expect thicker wind deposits at high elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow will likely bond poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">We currently have limited snowpack observations, but expect snow depths ranging from 70-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will gradually accumulate as a series of storms bring snow to the region this week. The combination of new snow and strong winds out of the south will form thicker wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the feathery surface hoar crystals and soft sugary snow that have been sitting on the surface for the past week </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Increasing southwest winds and light new snow amounts have likely begun to form new wind slabs along north aspects. Beneath the surface, the snowpack is generally stable right now, but there is a weak layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals down about 30-50 cm that may coexist with a sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic in areas where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination will most likely be found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky, alpine terrain with a shallow snowpack would be the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Check out the latest video from Whitewater that summaries their backcountry conditions </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCGgdRi3DN8&amp;fbclid=IwAR3LEHKn5HkFthUKKrtVTn-f8Rixvgu42jjJteFxPnVwUar0Ms-az_MHb6Y" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. Ongoing cold temperatures and clear skies have formed surface hoar on top of the snowpack and transformed the upper 20 cm of snow into weak sugary snow. At treeline, the height of snow is between 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features surface hoar above a widespread temperature crust. Both layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine terrain. These layers are trending towards dormancy, but may remain problematic on steep solar aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep rocky terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Not much has changed in the snowpack for some time now. The only exception to this would be the continued facetting, particularly of the surface snow. Small wind slabs still exist near alpine ridges in lee and cross-loaded terrain, and if initiated will likely step down into the weak base layers and involve the the full depth of the snowpack.  In steep and unsupported terrain there is still avalanche hazard, despite the very slow start (shallow snowpack) we are experiencing.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">On Sunday rain fell around most of the region, with snow beginning to accumulate at the highest elevation areas. This new snow has covered a crust on the old snow surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to the recent precipitation, the snowpack has been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500 m elevation. In alpine areas near Squamish, up to of 70cm settled snow is on the ground. In these areas, a crust is lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow.&nbsp; </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of mostly low density new snow now rests on the previous snow surface. I expect this new snow to be initially poorly bonded, meaning the new snow will sluff readily in steep terrain. Lower in the snowpack, there is a lingering weak layer about 35-65 cm deep. This layer is comprised of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals that is most prominent at treeline, but may also be found in sheltered alpine areas. This layer has not been active recently, although there is some potential for it to awaken in response to new snow. If it was to come back to life, the most problematic places would be on south aspects at treeline, where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light amount of new snow and recent winds have created wind slabs in the alpine and isolated treeline areas. Incoming new snow will likely not bond well on account of the faceted (sugary) nature of the upper snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another major feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 100 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions range from soft power, to hard wind slab, and some sun crusts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report for a visual representation of the snowpack </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. The main concern is a combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 30-90 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions may range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab likely exist on leeward slopes. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The bottom half of the snowpack is composed of weak facets and crusts. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snowfall beginning Sunday has added up to 30cm around the region. The weather forecast is calling for significant snowfall amounts through the week. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Buried under the new snow is a weak surface layer sitting over 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is initially not bonding well with this old surface layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 150-200 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations (starting around 1800m).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent snow deposited about 10 cm new snow in the region. This has buried a weak, variable layer covering 20 cm of low density faceted snow and the new snow is initially not expected to bond well with the older snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 120-180 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 30-50 cm of new snow by the end of Tuesday will bring the total from the past few days up to to 40-80 cm. Extreme wind will likely form even thicker deposits at high elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow will likely bond poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week, especially on sheltered slopes at treeline. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to the storms, there was only 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine and very little coverage below treeline, but this is finally changing.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow will gradually accumulate as a series of storms bring snow to the region this week. The combination of new snow and strong winds out of the south will form thicker wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically with elevation where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of mostly low density new snow now rests on the previous snow surface. I expect this new snow to be initially poorly bonded, meaning the new snow will sluff readily in steep terrain. Wind slabs can be expected on north as east facing slopes in exposed areas. Lower in the snowpack, there is a weak layer of feathery surface hoar crystals down about 30-50 cm that may coexist with a sun crust on steeper south facing slopes at treeline elevations. This layer has not been very active although there is a small chance it could awaken in response to new snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky, alpine terrain with a shallow snowpack would be the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Ongoing cold temperatures and clear skies have formed surface hoar on top of the snowpack and transformed the upper 20 cm of snow into weak sugary snow. On Sunday, freezing rain up to 2100m produced a thin crust on the surface. Initially, incoming snow may not bond well with this layer. At treeline the height of snow is between 100 and 140 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40 to 80 cm below the surface there is a closely stacked pair of buried persistent weak layers. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features surface hoar above a widespread temperature crust. Both layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine terrain. These layers are trending towards dormancy, but may remain problematic on steep solar aspects.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Strong SW winds on Monday have created many wind slabs in the alpine. These wind slabs, especially near alpine ridges in lee and cross loaded terrain are a concern because if they are initiated, they will likely step down into the weak base layers and involve the full depth of the snowpack. In steep and unsupported terrain there is still avalanche hazard, despite the very slow start (shallow snowpack) we are experiencing. More strong winds are forecast for Tuesday which will continue to make widespread windslabs in the alpine and treeline.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snow has begun to accumulate at higher elevations. Initially, this new snow is not expected to bond well with a recently buried crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to the recent precipitation, the snowpack has been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500 m elevation. In alpine areas near Squamish, the new snow covered up to of 70 cm settled snow. In these areas, a crust is lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A series of storms over the course of the week may deposit enough snow at treeline and lower elevations to make avalanches possible and improve early season travel conditions.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">As of Tuesday afternoon the storm has produced around 20 cm of storm snow which lies on the December 9th weak layer. This layer consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. By Wednesday morning there could be 40 cm of storm snow on this interface out of the wind, and easily double that in lee alpine features. Lower in the snowpack, a pair of weak layers buried in mid-November are 40 to 80 cm below the surface. These layers present as surface hoar and a suncrust. They are most prevalent at treeline but may be found in sheltered alpine terrain too. While not recently reactive, this storm could push them to their breaking point. The most likely place to see an avalanche failing on this interface would be on south aspects at treeline where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">As of Tuesday afternoon the storm has produced 10 to 20 cm of new snow which sits on the December 9th weak layer. This layer consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. Storm slabs are not bonding well to this interface. By Wednesday morning there could be 30 cm of storm snow on this interface out of the wind, with deeper wind slabs in lee alpine features.  </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) being reported in the top 15-30cm. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another major feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow has begin to bury the old surface that was noted earlier in the week for a cover of large, weak surface hoar crystals as well as hard wind slab and some sun crusts. Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has been stuck in early season conditions, hovering at roughly 100 cm of depth in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report for a visual representation of the snowpack </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. Aside from storm slabs now building on the surface, a primary concern is the combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light new snow amounts have begun to bury previous surfaces that ranged from soft power to hard wind slab, and sun crust. The new snow is also burying Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab that likely exist on leeward slopes. Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has a thin, weak structure, with the bottom half of the snowpack composed of weak facets and crusts. This basal layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Currently only 30-90 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snowfall beginning Sunday has deposited around 40-60 cm in the Sea to Sky region. Strong to extreme winds have accompanied the new snow and the weather forecast is calling for significant snowfall amounts to continue to accumulate through the week. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Buried under the new snow is a weak surface layer sitting over 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is not bonding well with the old surface layer, has slab-like properties, and is reacting to skier traffic.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 150-200 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120 cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations (starting around 1800 m).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall starting Sunday night has deposited 20-30 cm at higher elevations in the region. This has buried a weak, variable surface layer covering 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is initially not bonding well with the older snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 120-180 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations and new snow may just cover early season hazards at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of new snow expected by the end of Wednesday should bring storm totals from the past few days up to about 60-110 cm. Extreme southwest and west winds are likely to likely form the thickest deposits on lee slopes at high elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow is likely bonding poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week, especially on sheltered slopes at treeline. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to the storms, there was only 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine and very little coverage below treeline, but this is finally changing. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">An initial 5-10 cm of new snow has dusted the region, the first accumulations brought by a series of storms impacting us this week. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds will form thicker wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically at lower elevations, where the primary hazards remain the rocks, stumps, and open creeks lurking beneath thin snow cover.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">As of Tuesday afternoon the storm has produced around 20 cm of storm snow which lies on the December 9th weak layer. This layer consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. By Tues morning there could be 40 cm of storm snow on this interface out of the wind, and easily double that in lee alpine features. Lower in the snowpack, a pair of weak layers buried in mid-November are 40 to 70 cm below the surface. These layers present as surface hoar and a suncrust. They are most prevalent at treeline but may be found in sheltered alpine terrain too. While not recently reactive, this storm could push them to their breaking point. The most likely place to see an avalanche failing on this interface would be on south aspects at treeline where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">As of Tuesday afternoon the storm has produced 10 to 25 cm of storm snow and another 5 to 10 cm are expected overnight. This new snow lies on the December 9th weak layer which consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. By Tues morning there could be 30 cm of settled storm snow with deeper wind slabs in lee alpine features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A buried weak layer exists 20 to 60 cm below the surface, it consists of a sun crust on steep south facing slopes and/or weak surface hoar crystals on more shaded and sheltered slopes. Although it is slowly healing, it may still react to triggers where surface hoar is sitting on the crust which is most prevalent on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-25 cm new snow has fallen around the region, with more forecasted to fall through the week. The new snow has buried a weak variable layer of surface hoar, facets and rain crust and covers 20-30 cm low density facets. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the facets, a stacked pair of persistent weak layers is buried 40-90 cm down. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features surface hoar above a widespread temperature crust. Both layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine terrain. These layers are trending towards dormancy, but may remain problematic on steep solar aspects.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The strong westerly winds have been blowing since Monday morning. On Tuesday, these winds were fairly constant in the 70km/hr range. The few cm of snow that has fallen on Tuesday with whatever was kicking around has now turned into widespread wind slabs in the alpine and at tree line. With the 10-15cm of snow forecast by Wednesday morning and the strong west winds, expect extensive wind slab development on all exposed slopes. More snow and 90km/hr winds for Wednesday will continue to grow the wind slabs. Expect these new slabs to be touchy and if they do release, they will probably step down into the weak base layers and involve the whole snowpack.&nbsp; </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Around 30 cm new snow has fallen around the region. Where it covers old snow, the new snow is not expected to bond well with a recently buried crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to the recent precipitation, the snowpack has been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500 m elevation. In alpine areas near Squamish, the new snow covered up to of 70 cm settled snow. In these areas, a crust is lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Shallow snow to bare ground at lower elevations has made for rugged travel. With any luck, the upcoming series of storms will deposit enough snow at treeline and lower elevations and improve early season travel conditions. Additionally, this new snow may bring lower elevation snow packs to depths where avalanches can occur.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 20 to 50 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday into Wednesday. The new snow rests on a buried weak layer (December 10th) that consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. R</span><span class="s_AA239A9B">esults on this interface are quite variable. It's very touchy in some places and less reactive in others. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, a pair of weak layers buried in mid-November are 50 to 90 cm below the surface. These layers present as surface hoar and a suncrust. They are most prevalent at treeline but may be found in sheltered alpine terrain too. While not recently reactive, this storm could push them to their breaking point. The most likely place to see an avalanche failing on this interface would be on south aspects at treeline where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 15 to 40 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday into Wednesday. This new snow rests on a buried weak layer (December 10th) that consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. Results on this interface are quite variable. It's very touchy in some places and less reactive in others.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) 30 to 70 cm below the surface. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another major feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday night's storm brought 30-40 cm of new snow to the region. The new snow has buried an old snow surface that was noted earlier in the week for a cover of large, weak surface hoar crystals as well as hard wind slab and some sun crusts. Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has been stuck in early season conditions, hovering at roughly 100 cm of depth in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report for a visual representation of the pre-storm snowpack </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. Aside from storm slabs now blanketing the surface, a primary concern is the combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 15-20 cm of new snow has buried previous snow surfaces that ranged from soft power to hard wind slab and sun crust. Strong winds have likely been aggressively forming storm slabs and wind slabs with the new snow at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has a thin, weak structure, with the bottom half of the snowpack composed of weak facets and crusts. This basal layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Currently only 30-90 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snowfall beginning Sunday has deposited up to 80 cm in the Sea to Sky region. Strong to extreme southwesterly winds have accompanied the new snow and the weather forecast is calling for additional snowfall amounts to accumulate through the week. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Buried under the new snow is a weak surface layer sitting over 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is not bonding well with the old surface layer, has slab-like properties, and is reacting to skier traffic.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 150-200 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120 cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations (starting around 1800 m).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall starting Sunday night has deposited 30-40 cm at higher elevations in the region. This has buried a weak, variable surface layer covering 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow has not bonded well with the older snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 120-180 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations and new snow may just cover early season hazards at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 20-30 cm of new snow expected by the end of Thursday should bring storm totals from the past few days up to about 90-120 cm. Strong to extreme southwest and west winds are likely forming the thickest deposits on lee slopes at high elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has been observed bonding poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week, especially on sheltered slopes at treeline. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to the storms, there was only 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine and very little coverage below treeline, but this is finally changing. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">An initial 10-20 cm of new snow has dusted the region, the first accumulations brought by a series of storms impacting us this week. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds will form thicker wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow will likely bond poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust has been reported 10-20 cm below the previous snow surface, and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 60-120 cm in the alpine. This decreases dramatically at lower elevations, where the primary hazards remain the rocks, stumps, and open creeks lurking beneath thin snow cover.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 20 to 60 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday into Wednesday. The new snow rests on a buried weak layer (December 10th) that consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. Results on this interface are quite variable. It's very touchy in some places and less reactive in others. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, a pair of weak layers buried in mid-November are 30 to 110 cm below the surface. These layers present as surface hoar and a suncrust. They are most prevalent at treeline but may be found in sheltered alpine terrain too. While not recently reactive, this storm could push them to their breaking point. The most likely place to see an avalanche failing on this interface would be on south aspects at treeline where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 20 to 50 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday into Wednesday. Up to 70 cm of snow rests on a buried weak layer (December 10th) that consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. This interface was very touchy on Wednesday. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A buried weak layer from mid November is now 80 to 120 cm below the surface, it consists of a sun crust on steep south facing slopes and/or weak surface hoar crystals on more shaded and sheltered slopes. While not recently reactive, this storm could push it to the breaking point. The most likely place to see an avalanche failing on this interface would be on south aspects at treeline where the surface hoar formed above a sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 20 to 40 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday into Wednesday. This new snow rests on a variable weak layer of surface hoar, facets and a rain crust which we are calling the December 10th layer. This layer has been observed at all elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the facets, a stacked pair of persistent weak layers is buried 50 to 90 cm down. The upper layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals) in most places, but may present as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features surface hoar above a widespread temperature crust. Both layers are thought to be widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine terrain. These layers are trending towards dormancy, but may remain problematic on steep solar aspects.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The alpine has received 10-15cm of new snow which has been blown into wind slabs from the strong SW winds. Expect the westerly slopes to be scoured of snow and the lee sides and cross loaded gullies to be well loaded with snow. More snow and 75km/hr winds for Thursday will continue to grow the wind slabs. Expect these new slabs to be touchy and if they do release, they will probably step down into the weak base layers and involve the whole snowpack. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A suspected 30 cm new snow has fallen in the alpine of the region. At lower elevations, rain gave way to heavy snowfall only late on Wednesday. Where it covers old snow, the new snow is not expected to bond well with the now buried crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to the recent precipitation, the snowpack has been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500 m elevation. In alpine areas near Squamish, the new snow has covered up to of 70 cm settled snow. In these areas, a crust is lower in the snowpack, however it is now suspected to be well bonded to the overlying storm snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Shallow snow to bare ground at lower elevations has made for rugged travel. With any luck, the upcoming series of storms will deposit enough snow at treeline and lower elevations and improve early season travel conditions. Additionally, this new snow may bring lower elevation snow packs to depths where avalanches can occur.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-95 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects. The storm came in with moderate to strong winds that continue to persist throughout the region, creating widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid-November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for storm slab avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The region picked up 15 to 50 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest wind Tuesday through Thursday. This new snow rests on a buried weak layer (December 10th) that consists of facets, surface hoar, and a crust on solar aspects. Results on this interface are quite variable. It's very touchy in some places and less reactive in others.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">There are two layers of surface hoar (weak feathery crystals) 30 to 70 cm below the surface. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline, but it may be found in sheltered alpine areas. Both of these layers may be associated with a sun crust on south aspects in some areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another major feature in the snowpack is a combination of a crust and faceted (sugary) snow found at or near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most prominent in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The early season snowpack is highly variable in the Purcells. Total snowpack depths vary greatly throughout the region with anywhere between 70 and 150 cm in the alpine tapering rapidly at treeline and below. In shallow snowpack areas, the bottom half of the snowpack is reportedly weak and &quot;hollow&quot; feeling on shady aspects due to sugary, faceted snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 40 cm of new snow has fallen in this region. The new snow has buried an old snow surface that was noted earlier in the week for a cover of large, weak surface hoar crystals as well as hard wind slab and some sun crusts. Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has been stuck in early season conditions, hovering at roughly 100 cm of depth in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">See the snow profile in our field team's MIN report for a visual representation of the pre-storm snowpack </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/9fb25099-67bd-46f4-b9cc-0da1674b6c7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. Aside from storm slabs now blanketing the surface, a primary concern is the combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 20-25 cm of new snow has buried previous snow surfaces that ranged from soft power to hard wind slab and sun crust. Strong winds have likely been aggressively forming storm slabs and wind slabs with the new snow at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has a thin, weak structure, with the bottom half of the snowpack composed of weak facets and crusts. This basal layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Currently only 30-90 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Snowfall beginning Sunday has deposited up to 130 cm in the Sea to Sky region. Strong to extreme southwesterly winds have accompanied the new snow and the weather forecast is calling for additional snowfall amounts to accumulate. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Buried under the new snow is a weak surface layer sitting over 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow is not bonding well with the old surface layer, has slab-like properties, and is reacting to skier traffic.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 150-200 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120 cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations (starting around 1800 m).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snowfall starting Sunday night has deposited 40-60 cm at higher elevations in the region. This has buried a weak, variable surface layer covering 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. The new snow has not bonded well with the older snow. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to this storm, alpine snowpack depths varied around 120-180 cm, with an early November crust at bottom of the snowpack (down 100-120cm). This crust appears to be breaking down at higher elevations and has been unreactive to snowpack tests. Snowpack depths disappear quickly with decreasing elevations and new snow may just cover early season hazards at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 10-15 cm of new snow expected by the end of Friday should bring storm totals from the past few days up to about 110-140 cm, effectively doubling snowpack depths from before the storm. Strong to extreme southwest and west winds are likely forming the thickest deposits on lee slopes at high elevations. Wind effect is most pronounced near the coast.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has been observed bonding poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that formed our pre-storm snow surface. The surface hoar is likely to be especially prominent on sheltered slopes at treeline while surface faceting was likely more widespread. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to the storms, there was only 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine and very little coverage below treeline, but this has seen rapid change over the week. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of new snow has covered the region so far this week, the product of an ongoing series of storms. Areas like Howsons in the far southwest may see storm totals closer to 60 cm. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds is likely forming thicker, more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. Even below the wind, the new snow will need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that were sitting on the surface prior to the storms. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust was reported 10-20 cm below the previous snow surface (so now closer to 30-50 cm deep) and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Expect an average snow depth of 70-110 cm in the alpine, however this decreases dramatically at lower elevations. The ongoing storms are gradually bringing lower elevations to threshold depths for avalanches, replacing the rocks, stumps, and open creeks lurking beneath thin snow cover that have been the primary hazards thus far.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">70-110 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects. The storm came in with moderate to strong winds that continue to persists throughout the region, creating widespread slab formation. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. While not recently reactive, the potential may exist for storm slab avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust on south aspects. The storm came in with moderate to strong winds that continue to persist throughout the region, creating widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 120 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. While not recently reactive, the potential may exist for storm slab avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-50 cm of recent storm snow has fallen in the region with moderate to strong southerly winds. This snow sits on top of a weak layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects. Moderate to strong winds will persist throughout Friday and will continue to promote widespread slab development.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, a stacked pair of persistent weak layers are buried 50-60 and 90-100 cm. The upper layer consists of surface hoar in most places, but may exist as a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The deeper layer features surface hoar above a temperature crust. Both layers are reportedly widespread at treeline and may also extend into sheltered alpine terrain. There have been no recent reports of reactivity on these layers, but they may remain a problem on steep south aspects. The potential may exist for smaller storm slab avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Over the past three days up to 30cm of snow has fallen at treeline elevations and above.  Lower elevations have only seen about have of that amount.  This new snow has fallen under the influence of strong SW winds so widespread windslabs have developed in open areas.  At treeline and below the Dec 10th surface hoar later is now down 20-25cm.  This layer is only being found in sheltered areas due to previous winds but was large so we suspect it to be reactive where present.  Overall the base of the snowpack is weak and facetted with the October crust 20-30cm off the ground.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Overnight rain will soak into recent new snow. One or more other crusts may already exist in the upper snowpack. Particularly at alpine elevations, new snow is not expected to bond well to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Prior to the recent storms, the snowpack had been below threshold depth for avalanches in the North Shore mountains and terrain below 1500 m elevation. This situation is changing rapidly and it is now necessary to evaluate all open slopes for avalanche hazard. In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now approximately 130 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-100 cm of new snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 100-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Storm snow totals continue to accumulate with another 5-10 cm expected on Friday night. Roughly 30-50 cm of recent storm snow now sits above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar crystals and/or sun crust. There have been numerous signs of the new snow bonding poorly to this layer including remote triggering from low angle terrain, shooting cracks, and wide propagations in avalanches. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Aside from storm slabs now blanketing the surface, a primary concern is the combination of weak facets and crusts in the bottom half of the snowpack. The crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature. A layer of large surface hoar can also be found at similar depths in some areas, as found in a recent MIN report </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/dcecb813-3360-4b77-8f72-dcaeb97f32d7" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">here</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B">.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 20-30 cm of new snow has buried previous snow surfaces that ranged from soft power to hard wind slab and sun crust. Strong winds have likely been aggressively forming storm slabs and wind slabs with the new snow at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has a thin, weak structure, with the bottom half of the snowpack composed of weak facets and crusts. This basal layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Currently only 30-90 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 2 m of new snow has fallen in the series of storms that started last Sunday. Extreme southerly winds (up to 180 km/h!) have accompanied the new snow and the weather forecast is calling for additional snowfall amounts to accumulate. A crust likely exists on or near the surface at elevations below approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below the recent storm snow. Initially, avalanches were reported to be running on this layer. However, it appears as though recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer. The presence of this layer shouldn't be completely discarded, since it could potentially increase the expected size. This would be of particular concern with large loads, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 1 m of new snow has fallen in this region since the latest round of storms started last Sunday. Strong southerly winds have distributed new snow into variable wind slabs in exposed locations. A crust at or near the surface likely exists up to approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow lies a weak layer, comprising 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. Initially, the snow did not bond well to this layer. While it's likely gaining strength, there is concern that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists that previously had sugary facets. This could potentially still be of concern in high north facing areas in drier parts of the region. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another 10-15 cm of snow on Friday brought storm totals from the past week up to 100-150 cm, effectively doubling snowpack depths from before the storm. Strong to extreme southwest and west winds are likely forming the thickest deposits on lee slopes at high elevations. Wind effect is most pronounced near the coast.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has been observed bonding poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that formed our pre-storm snow surface. The surface hoar is likely to be especially prominent on sheltered slopes at treeline while surface faceting was likely more widespread. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of new snow has covered the region so far this week, the product of an ongoing series of storms. Areas like Howsons in the far southwest had storm totals closer to 50 cm. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. Even below the wind, the new snow will need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that were sitting on the surface prior to the storms. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A hard crust was reported 10-20 cm below the previous snow surface (so now closer to 30-50 cm deep) and in some locations there is an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack. The new snow has brought alpine snow depths up to 100-150 cm and started to cover the rocks, stumps, and open creeks at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. While not recently reactive, the potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-100 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 50 cm of recent storm snow has fallen in the region with strong southerly winds. This snow sits on top of a weak layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects. Recent &quot;sudden&quot; snowpack test results on this layer indicate it still has the potential to release avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack there were a couple of previous weak layers in the middle of the snowpack that appear to have become inactive, and a layer of sugary facets near the base of the snowpack. This latter layer could possibly cause problems on cold (north facing) slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin, but in most places, this is unlikely.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">The recent storm snow has been widely redistributed by the strong SW winds. In sheltered areas at treeline, there is up to 40cm and the alpine varies from 40-100cm depending on wind exposure. Needless to say, the alpine is completely covered in new windslabs. Treeline is a bit more forgiving in terms of windslab distribution, windslabs aren't as widespread. The Dec 10th surface hoar/facet layer is down 20-30 at treeline. As far as surface hoar is concerned, we did find it, but it was actually hard to track down. Sheltered areas at treeline seem the most likely, but there could be pockets in more open terrain. Facets on the other hand, are very easy to find- nothing new there! We'll nail this layer's character down better as more observations are made. The deeper crusts, are mostly facetted out, but seem to be reasonably well glued together in low angle terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Recent rain-soaked snow will have frozen into a crust in many places by Saturday morning. At higher elevations near Squamish, it might be possible to find dry snow. For these areas, expect to see highly variable patterns of wind deposits on account of the extreme winds. Also note, it's likely the recent new snow has not bonded well to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now approximately 170 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong to extreme winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-100 cm of snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 100-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 30-50 cm of recent storm snow sits above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar, facets, and/or sun crust. There have been numerous signs of the new snow bonding poorly to this layer including remote triggering from low angle terrain, shooting cracks, and wide propagations in avalanches. Ongoing wind loading is forming thicker slabs at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as early season crusts with weak facets. The most concerning crust is most prevalent at and above treeline and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 20-30 cm of new snow has buried previous snow surfaces that ranged from soft power to hard wind slab and sun crust. Strong winds have likely been aggressively forming wind slabs with the new snow at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath the new snow and old surface, the snowpack has a thin, weak structure, with the bottom half of the snowpack composed of weak facets and crusts. This basal layer has been reactive to heavy triggers, and terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are suspect for human triggering.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Currently only 30-100 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 2 m of snow fell in the series of storms that started a week ago. Extreme southerly winds (up to 180 km/h!) accompanied the storms. Another series of storms is on the doorstep.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A crust likely exists on or near the surface at elevations below approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below the recent storm snow. Initially, avalanches were reported to be running on this layer. However, recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer. Still, the presence of this layer shouldn't be completely discarded, since it could potentially increase expected avalanche size with a large trigger like a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 1 m of new snow fell since the storm pattern started last Sunday. Strong southerly winds distributed new snow into variable wind slabs in exposed locations. A crust at or near the surface likely exists up to approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow lies a weak layer, comprising 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. Initially, the snow did not bond well to this layer. While it's likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists that previously had sugary facets. This could potentially still be of concern in high north facing areas in drier parts of the region. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The onslaught of storms continues with another 30-50 cm of new snow possible by the end of the day on Sunday. Both snowfall amounts and wind effect will be more pronounced near the coast.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 100-150 cm of recent storm snow sits above a potential weak layer. This layer is composed of surface hoar, weak facets (sugary snow), and crusts. The surface hoar is likely to be especially prominent on sheltered slopes at treeline while surface faceting was likely more widespread. Reports from the Shames area on Saturday suggest the storm snow is bonding poorly to this layer (as indicated in snowpack tests and whumpfing).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-40 cm of new snow has covered the region so far this week, the product of an ongoing series of storms. Areas like Howsons in the far southwest had storm totals closer to 50 cm. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. Even below the wind, the new snow will need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that were sitting on the surface prior to the storms. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=mountain-information-network-submissions/e51bd0b9-5ad0-4907-ba62-1d5f7ad8e0a6" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(See this MIN report)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has brought alpine snow depths up to 100-150 cm and started to cover the rocks, stumps, and open creeks at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 50 to 60 cm of snow has fell last week, with strong southerly winds. This snow sits on top of a weak layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects. Recent &quot;sudden&quot; snowpack test results and remotely triggered avalanches indicate it remains a critical layer that can release avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, previous weak layers appear inactive. These deeper layers could possibly cause problems on cold (north facing) slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin, but in most places, this is unlikely.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">An additional 4cm fell overnight on friday and 10cm during the day on Saturday.  Over the past 5 days 46cm of snow has fallen at treeline with warm temps and strong SW winds.  Widespread windslabs have developed and we have seen lots of cracking,  reports of whumpfing, and skier controlled avalanches on the Dec 10th surface hoar and facet interface down 40-60cm.  Recent natural avalanche have stepped down to the Oct crust with fracture depths over 1m.  The new windslabs and persistent slabs will take a few days to settle out and strenghten.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Recent rain-soaked snow has frozen into a crust in most places. The exception is higher elevations near Squamish where dry snow likely still exists. For these higher elevation areas, expect to see highly variable patterns of wind deposits on account of last week's extreme winds. In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now approximately 170 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">70-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong to extreme winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-120 cm of snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind has affected most open terrain and formed fresh wind slabs at higher elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 30-50 cm of recent storm snow sits above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar, facets, and/or sun crust. There have been numerous signs of the new snow bonding poorly to this layer including remote triggering from low angle terrain, shooting cracks, and wide propagations in avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as early season crusts with weak facets. The most concerning crust is prevalent at higher elevations and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong winds have affected all open terrain, scouring windward slopes and forming wind deposits on lee slopes. Currently only 30-120 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 20-30 cm of recent snow has buried old wind slabs and sun crusts. The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed of facets and crust that has been reactive to heavy triggers. Terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are suspect for human triggering.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 2 m of snow has accumulated over the past week. We are in the midst of another series of storms impacting the region, which will bring another round of snow and strong to extreme southerly winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all the recent storm snow. Initially, avalanches were reported to be running on this layer. However, recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer. Still, the presence of this layer shouldn't be completely discarded, since it could potentially increase expected avalanche size with a large trigger like a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 1 m of new snow fell since the storm pattern started last Sunday. Strong southerly winds distributed new snow into variable wind slabs in exposed locations. A crust at or near the surface likely exists up to approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow lies a weak layer, comprising 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. Initially, the snow did not bond well to this layer. While it's likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists that previously had sugary facets. This could potentially still be of concern in high north facing areas in drier parts of the region. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The onslaught of storms continues with another 15-30 cm of new snow possible by the end of the day on Sunday. Both snowfall amounts and wind effect will be more pronounced near the coast.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 100-150 cm of recent storm snow sits above a layer of potentially weak snow that formed during the dry spell in early December. The layer is composed of weak surface hoar or facets that are often found above a crust. The surface hoar is most likely on sheltered slopes at treeline while surface faceting was probably more widespread. Reports from the Shames area on Saturday suggest the storm snow could still be bonding poorly to this layer (as indicated in snowpack tests and whumpfing).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather continues to build storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. Sunday's storm brought another 15-25 cm of snow, which brings the total of 40-70 cm of new snow since Tuesday the 11th. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. The new snow may still need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that were sitting on the surface prior to the storms.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow has brought alpine snow depths up to 100-150 cm and started to cover the rocks, stumps, and open creeks at lower elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">70-130 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Until today the primary concern was the layer below last week's storm snow accumulations; that would be the Dec 09 (date it was buried) layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects all about 60 cm deep. By the time Monday morning rolls in I expect two primary concerns:  Dec which will be getting to 70 cm or more below the surface, as well as some storm &amp; wind slab issues (say within 30 cm of the surface, deeper in wind loaded pockets). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Although 10 or 15 cm of new snow daily often won't start a natural avalanche cycle, it looks to me that we're getting real close to tipping the balance. The Dec 09 layer, it's primed; recent &quot;sudden&quot; snowpack test results and remotely triggered avalanches indicate it remains a critical layer. If the forecast storms materialize I expect this layer to wake up on Monday or Tuesday.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, previous weak layers from November appear inactive. These deeper layers could possibly cause problems on cold (north facing) slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin, but in most places, this is unlikely.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Another 2cm of fresh snow overnight brings the recent storm snow up to 40cm at Treeline. Widespread wind slabs have developed and we have seen lots of cracking, reports of whumpfing, and skier controlled avalanches on the Dec 10th surface hoar and facet interface down 40-50cm. Recent natural avalanche have stepped down to the Oct crust with fracture depths over 1m.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Recent precipitation has come as rain resulting in a moist or wet surface snow. The exception is higher elevations near Squamish where dry snow likely still exists. For these higher elevation areas, expect to see highly variable patterns of wind deposits on account of last week's extreme winds. In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now approximately 170 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">70-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong to extreme winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-120 cm of snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday's storm will build fresh storm slabs, especially at higher elevations where strong wind will form extra thick slabs.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The new snow is falling on moist snow below 1600 m and hard wind packed snow in the alpine. Roughly 30-50 cm of snow is settling above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar, facets, and/or sun crust. There have been numerous signs over the past few days that this layer remains weak (i.e. remote triggering from low angle terrain, wide propagations in avalanches), and the layer could become extra reactive with the additional load of the new snow on Tuesday.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as early season crusts with weak facets. The most concerning crust is prevalent at higher elevations and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday's storm will build fresh wind slabs at higher elevations. Strong wind has affected all open terrain over the past few days, scouring windward slopes and forming wind deposits on lee slopes. Currently only 30-120 cm of snow can be found in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed of facets and crusts. Heavy explosive triggers have produced large avalanches on these layers, and human triggering is suspect on steep terrain features and slopes with variable snowpack depth.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 2 m of snow has accumulated over the past week. We are in the midst of another series of storms impacting the region, which will bring another round of snow and strong to extreme southerly winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all the recent storm snow. Initially, avalanches were reported to be running on this layer. However, recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer. Still, the presence of this layer shouldn't be completely discarded, since it could potentially increase expected avalanche size with a large trigger like a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 1 m of new snow fell since the storm pattern started last Sunday. Strong southerly winds distributed new snow into variable wind slabs in exposed locations. A crust at or near the surface likely exists up to approximately 1700 m.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow lies a weak layer, comprising 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. Initially, the snow did not bond well to this layer. While it's likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists that previously had sugary facets. This could potentially still be of concern in high north facing areas in drier parts of the region. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The onslaught of storms continues with another 20-40 cm of new snow possible by the end of the day on Tuesday (and rain below 1000 m). Both snowfall amounts and wind effect will be more pronounced near the coast.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 100-160 cm of recent storm snow sits above a layer of surface hoar, facets, and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. While a concern during the start of the storm, the strength of this layer has probably improved substantially over the past week and it likely requires a heavy load to trigger (e.g. cornice fall, explosives, a small avalanche) . </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather continues to build storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. Sunday's storm brought another 15-25 cm of snow, which brings the total amount of snow since last Tuesday (the 11th) to 40-70 cm. The combination of new snow and forecast strong south winds is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow may still need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that formed during the dry spell in early December. We're lacking information about the current strength of this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">70-130 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Until today the primary concern was the layer below last week's storm snow accumulations; that would be the Dec 09 (date it was buried) layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects all about 60 cm deep. After the latest storm Monday night into Tuesday, the Dec 09 will be 70-80 cm below the surface, as well as some new storm &amp; wind slab issues (say within 30 cm of the surface, deeper in wind loaded pockets). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Although 10 or 15 cm of new snow daily often won't start a natural avalanche cycle, it looks like we're getting real close to tipping the balance. The Dec 09 layer, it's primed; recent &quot;sudden&quot; snowpack test results and remotely triggered avalanches indicate it remains a critical layer. If the forecast storms materialize I expect this layer may wake up as we continue to build the load on top of it.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, previous weak layers from November appear inactive. These deeper layers could possibly cause problems on cold (north facing) slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin, but in most places, this is unlikely.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A few convective flurries through the day on Monday put a light dusting on the surface. Recent storm snow has settled to an average of 40cm at Treeline. Widespread wind slabs are present in Alpine and Treeline terrain in lee and cross-loaded features. There has been lots of cracking, whumpfing, and skier triggered avalanches on the Dec 10th surface hoar and facet interface down 40-50cm. In addition, recent natural avalanches have stepped down to the October crust with fracture depths over 1 metre in some cases.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Recent precipitation has come as rain resulting in a moist or wet surface snow. The exception is higher elevations near Squamish where dry snow likely exists. For these higher elevation areas, expect to see storm snow from the past few days approaching 100cm with accompanied thick wind deposits in alpine lee terrain. In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now over 200 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 70-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong to extreme winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 60-120 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday's storm hit the region with 40 cm of new snow, forming fresh storm slabs at upper elevations. The precipitation fell as rain below 1500 m, leaving moist snow on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 50-80 cm of snow now sits above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar, facets, and/or sun crusts. There have been numerous signs over the past few days that this layer remains weak (e.g. remote triggering from low angle terrain, wide propagations in avalanches), and the additional load of the new snow could be pushing this layer past the tipping point.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as early season crusts with weak facets. The most concerning crust is prevalent at higher elevations and is likely most problematic on north-facing features, especially those that are large and planar in nature.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Tuesday's storm hit the region with 20-40 cm of new snow, forming fresh storm slabs at upper elevations. This substantially increases snowpack depths throughout the region, which prior to the storm range from 30-120 cm in the alpine and much less at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed of facets and crusts, and the additional load of the new snow has pushed these weak layers past the tipping point. Any avalanche could step down to the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Over 2 m of snow has accumulated over the past 10 days. We are in the midst of another series of storms impacting the region, which will bring another round of snow and strong to extreme southerly winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all the recent storm snow. Initially, avalanches were reported to be running on this layer. However, recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer. Still, the presence of this layer shouldn't be completely discarded, since it could potentially increase expected avalanche size with a large trigger like a cornice collapse.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another storm has brought an additional 20-30cm of snow to the region at upper elevations. Strong southerly winds have distributed new snow into variable wind slabs in exposed locations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below the recent storm snow lies a weak layer, comprising 20-30 cm of low density faceted snow. Initially, the snow did not bond well to this layer. While it's likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists that previously had sugary facets. This could potentially still be of concern in high north facing areas in drier parts of the region. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Over the past week an onslaught of storms has delivered 100-150 cm of snow to the region, with another 5-20 cm of fresh snow possible on Wednesday. Warm temperatures have left the surface snow moist up to roughly 1000 m, which could freeze into a crust with dropping temperatures this week. Strong wind has likely affected open terrain at higher elevations and formed thick wind deposits in lee terrain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">All of this storm snow sits above an interface that was a concern during the start of the storm, but the strength of this layer has probably improved substantially over the past week. The interface is composed of surface hoar, facets, and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 40-70 cm of snow has fallen over the past week, likely forming storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. The combination of new snow and strong wind from the southwest is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. The storm snow may still need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar and facets that formed during the dry spell in early December. We're lacking information about the current strength of this potential weak layer. Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm very recent snow brings storm totals to 60-100 cm over the last week or so. The storm snow buried a a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 30 cm very recent snow brings storm totals to 60-120 cm over the last week or so. This new snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The primary concern in the snowpack is the layer below last week's storm snow accumulations; that would be the Dec 09 (date it was buried) layer of facets (sugary crystals), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust on south aspects all about 60 cm deep. After the latest storm Monday night into Tuesday, the Dec 09 will be 70-80 cm below the surface, as well as some new storm &amp; wind slab issues (say within 30 cm of the surface, deeper in wind loaded pockets). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Although 10 or 15 cm of new snow daily often won't start a natural avalanche cycle, it looks like we're getting real close to tipping the balance. The Dec 09 layer, it's primed; recent &quot;sudden&quot; snowpack test results and remotely triggered avalanches indicate it remains a critical layer. If the forecast storms materialize I expect this layer may wake up as we continue to build the load on top of it.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, previous weak layers from November appear inactive. These deeper layers could possibly cause problems on cold (north facing) slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin, but in most places, this is unlikely.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">This recent storm has left us with 35-45cm of snow in sheltered areas and up to 90cm of storm snow in lee features. These loaded lee features are a good indication of the recent wind transport; it will be important to look for windslabs before venturing into bigger terrain.  Below this storm snow are surface hoar and facet crystals which are creating a weak sliding surface for the snow to be reactive; we are calling this the December facet layer interface and it is producing easy to moderate failures in our snow tests.  There is still concern for this recent storm snow to trigger the October facet layer at the bottom of the snowpack. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Recent precipitation has come as rain again resulting in a moist or wet surface snow. The exception is higher elevations near Squamish where dry snow likely exists. For these higher elevation areas, expect to see storm snow from the past few days approaching 100cm with accompanied thick wind deposits in alpine lee terrain. In alpine areas near Squamish, snow depths are now well over 200 cm. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 70-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 60-90 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40-50 cm of recent snow has formed fresh storm slabs. The precipitation fell as rain below 1500 m, leaving moist snow on the surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Roughly 40-90 cm of snow now sits above a weak layer composed of large surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and/or sun crusts. There have been numerous signs over the past few days that this layer remains weak, such as remote triggering from low angle terrain and wide propagations in avalanches. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as early season crusts with weak facets.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">25-60 cm of recent storm snow has formed&nbsp; storm slabs at upper elevations. This new snow substantially increases snowpack depths throughout the region, which prior to the storm ranged from 30-120 cm in the alpine and much less at lower elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed of facets and crusts, and the additional load of the new snow has pushed these weak layers past the tipping point. Any avalanche could step down to the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 3 m of snow has accumulated over the past 10 days. We are in the midst of another storm impacting the region on Thursday, which will bring more snow and strong to extreme southwest winds. Expect the new snow to be reactive to both skier activity and natural triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow. Recent avalanche activity is running in the storm snow above this layer but there have been reports of avalanche stepping down deeper within the snowpack, possibly to this weak layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer in areas with smooth ground roughness either where the snowpack is thin or with a very large trigger such as a cornice fall. Storm slab avalanches could also step down to this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of snow fell on Wednesday around the Coquihalla, with substantially lesser amounts in the north of the region. We are in the midst of another storm impacting the region on Thursday, which will bring more snow and strong to extreme southwest winds. Expect the new snow to be reactive to both skier activity and natural triggers.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover. Elsewhere, this layer is no longer a concern.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Over the past week an onslaught of storms has delivered 100-150 cm of snow to the region. Warm temperatures have left the surface snow moist up to approximately 1000 m, which will likely freeze into a crust with dropping temperatures this week. Strong wind has likely affected open terrain at higher elevations and formed thick wind deposits in lee terrain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">All of this storm snow sits above an interface that was a concern during the start of the storm, but the strength of this layer has likely improved substantially over the past week. The interface is composed of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 40-70 cm of snow has fallen over the past week, likely forming storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. The combination of new snow and strong wind from the southwest is likely forming thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. The storm snow may still need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is very limited about the current strength of this potential weak layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent storms have deposited 60-100 cm of new snow. This new snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent storms have deposited 80-120 cm of new snow. This new snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 50 to 100 cm of recent storm snow overlies a weak layer of feathery surface hoar, sugary facets, and variable crusts. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to travel extremely cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, previous weak layers from November appear inactive. These deeper layers could possibly cause problems on north-facing slopes at high elevations where the snowpack is thin.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Another 10cm of snow that fell Tuesday night brings our storm snow up to 50cm. Lee features are much more loaded (up to 90cm of storm snow). These loaded lee features are a good indication of the recent wind transport; it will be important to look for windslabs before venturing into bigger terrain. Below this storm snow are surface hoar and facet crystals which are creating a weak sliding surface for the snow to be reactive; we are calling this the December facet layer interface and it is producing natural avalanches. There is still concern for this recent storm snow to trigger the October facet layer at the bottom of the snowpack. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's precipitation will start as snow around 1300 m and then fall as rain at most elevations as freezing levels rise. The rain will fall onto recent dry snow above 1300 m and on rain-soaked snow below 1300 m. For the higher elevation areas, which are generally accessible around Squamish, expect to find storm slabs up to 100 cm thick and even deeper wind-loaded deposits in alpine lee terrain features. Snow depths are over 200 cm in the alpine.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 70-120 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals) and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer of surface hoar and sun crust that formed in mid November is up to 120 cm below the surface. This layer is most likely to be a problem in areas where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust. This combination is most likely found on steep, south facing slopes at treeline. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed near the end of October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm delivered 10-20 cm of new snow and strong winds promoted widespread slab formation. Approximately 50-100 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50-80 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as rain crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-70 cm of recent snow is sitting on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. Wind and warm temperatures have promoted widespread storm slab formation over this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered in the storm snow, would entrain the facets at the base of the snowpack, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">About 3 m of snow has accumulated over the past 10 days. Thursday’s storm brought 30 to 50 cm more snow to the region. The snow fell with extreme (gusts to 180 km/h) southerly winds. Expect the new snow to be reactive to skier activity on Friday, especially in the immediate lees of terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow. Recent avalanche activity is mostly running in the storm snow above this layer but there have been reports of avalanche stepping down deeper within the snowpack, possibly to this weak layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer in areas with smooth ground roughness either where the snowpack is thin or with a very large trigger such as a cornice fall. Storm slab avalanches could also step down to this layer.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 40 cm of snow fell in the region on Thursday with associated strong southerly winds. Deeper snow deposits are likely in the lees of terrain features. This sits on around 1 to 2 m of storm snow that has fallen in the past two weeks. Below 1500 m, Thursdays precipitation mostly fell as rain.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 120 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-10 cm of new snow likely sits on a rain crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is sitting on the 100-150 cm of storm snow that came in over the past week. Previous strong winds have likely affected open terrain at higher elevations and formed thick wind deposits in lee terrain. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">All of this recent storm snow sits on an interface that was a concern during the start of the storm, but the strength of this layer has likely improved substantially over the past week. The interface is composed of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and is still showing reactivity in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total of 40-80 cm of snow has fallen over the past week, likely forming storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. The combination of new snow and strong wind has likely formed thicker and more sensitive wind deposits at higher elevations. The storm snow may still need a bit more time to form a good bond with the weak surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is very limited about the current strength of this potential weak layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent storms have deposited 80-120 cm of new snow. This new snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar and a sun crust. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent storms have deposited 80-120 cm of new snow. This new snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Strong winds have promoted widespread slab formation, particularly with the most recent new snow available for transport.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 50 to 100 cm of recent storm snow overlies a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to travel extremely cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">More snow arrived last night and today. We now have 40-70 on top of the Dec 10 facet layer at treeline. Winds have continued to howl from the west today. The alpine is either wind scoured, or windslabs. Treeline also has these wind slabs, however they not as dense, which makes them tougher to predict in terms of &quot;triggerability&quot;. A profile today at 2000m had the Dec 10th down about 40cm. There were repeatable test results (compression test 19, sudden collapse) on this layer indicating it is a serious concern. The bottom line? We have several very weak layers lingering in the lower snowpack with a windslab sitting on top. Basically a house of cards waiting to reach the tipping point.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's precipitation fell as rain at most elevations except for in the alpine near Squamish. Expect to find rain-soaked snow to treeline and storm snow up to 100 cm thick and even deeper in wind-loaded terrain features in the high alpine. Snow depths are over 200 cm in the alpine.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed fresh wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 70-100 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 120 cm, but has been less active recently. It could potentially remain a concern on steep south-facing slopes where the surface hoar sits on a sun crust. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be steep rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm delivered 10-20 cm of new snow and strong winds promoted widespread slab formation. Approximately 50-100 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another layer of surface hoar and sun crust is now buried 80-150 cm. The potential may exist for smaller avalanches to step down to this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches. The most likely areas for this layer to be a problem is where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust, which is most likely on steep south facing terrain at treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. This layer is likely only a problem on large, steep alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger, such as a cornice fall, to produce an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down, but in certain terrain features, it is likely that it would still be possible for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer. Features where the underlying ground surface is smooth, and areas where the snowpack varies from thin to thick would be the most likely places for humans to trigger an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as rain crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent snow has formed widespread storm slabs that are sitting on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down, but in certain terrain features, it is likely that it would still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer. Features where the underlying ground surface is smooth, and areas where the snowpack varies from thin to thick would be the most likely places for humans to trigger an avalanche on this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered in the storm snow would entrain the facets at the base of the snowpack, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Thursday's storm dumped 30 to 50 cm of snow, with extreme winds (gusts to 180 km/h). All terrain features near ridges could have touchy slabs due to variable wind directions. Below around 1800 m, expect to find a melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday's storm. New snow on Saturday will fall on these surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow (over 3 m in the past two weeks!). Recent avalanche activity is mostly running in the storm snow above this layer but there have been reports of avalanche stepping down deeper within the snowpack, possibly to this weak layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer in areas with smooth ground roughness either where the snowpack is thin or with a very large trigger such as a cornice fall. Storm slab avalanches could also step down to this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 40 cm of snow fell in the region on Thursday at high elevations. Below about 1800 m expect to find a melt-freeze crust due to rain. At high elevations, expect to find deeper slabs in the lees of terrain features due to strong variable winds.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 120 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of recent snow sits on a rain crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is sitting on the 100-150 cm of storm snow that came in over the past week. Strong winds have likely affected open terrain at higher elevations and formed deep wind deposits in lee terrain. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This 100-150 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that was a concern when the first waves of the storm hit the coast, but the strength of this layer has generally improved over the past week. This layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50-90 cm of snow has fallen over the past week, likely forming storm slabs and wind slabs throughout the region. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow may still need more time to form a good bond with the weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is very limited about the current strength of this layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed fresh wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline, while 20-40 cm of recent storm snow continues to settle into a slab.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed fresh wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be steep rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong winds from first the south and then the northwest have redistributed the recent storm snow, producing wind slabs in lee terrain features at all elevations.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to travel extremely cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Another 10cm of snow over the past 24hrs brings our total amounts of settled storm snow up to 60-70cm.  This new snow is overlying the dec 10th facet interface the is producing easy to moderate shears down 60ish cm.  This layer may be deeper in more wide affected areas and also more reactive.  Forecasters on Friday turned around at a treeline feature due to whumpfing and cracking on this interface.  With the snowpack doubling in the past week it is overloaded and primed for human triggerred avalanches.  Pull back and stick to conservative terrain with minimal overhead exposure.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Cold temperatures have frozen the rain that fell on Thursday, producing a thick melt-freeze crusts at most elevations. The exception is in the alpine near Squamish, where most of the precipitation likely fell as snow. New snow on Saturday will fall on these surfaces. The new snow may not bond well to the crust. At alpine elevations, substantial amounts of snowfall have produced storm slabs, with the thickest being in lee terrain features. Snow depths are over 200 cm in the alpine.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 50-100 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 120 cm, but has been less active recently. It could potentially remain a concern on steep south-facing slopes where the surface hoar sits on a sun crust. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be steep rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest and northwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline. Approximately 50-100 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Another similar weak layer is buried 80-150 cm. Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak facets layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches over the past week. Human triggering any of these layer is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-100 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down to some degree, but in certain terrain features, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack transitions from deep to shallow, and large convex features are some of the most likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New slabs will form during the storm on Saturday night and Sunday. Below around 1800 m, expect new snow to fall onto a melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday’s storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below storm snow (over 3 m in the past two weeks!). Recent avalanche activity is mostly running in the storm snow above this layer but there have been reports of avalanche stepping down deeper within the snowpack, possibly to this weak layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets exist below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer in areas with smooth ground roughness either where the snowpack is thin or with a very large trigger such as a cornice fall. Storm slab avalanches could also step down to this layer.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New wind slabs may form the storm today, which may sit on old wind slabs from Thursday’s storm. Below around 1800 m, expect to find a melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday’s storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-20 cm of recent snow sits on a melt-freeze crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is sitting on the 100-150 cm of storm snow that came in over the past week. Strong winds have likely formed wind slabs at upper elevations, especially in lee features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">This 100-150 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that was a concern when the first waves of the storm hit the coast, but the strength of this layer has generally improved over the past week. This layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A few centimeters of new snow adds to the 50-90 cm of snow that has fallen over the past week. Strong winds have likely formed wind slabs throughout the region. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is very limited in this region about how well the new snow is bonding to this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed fresh wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline, while recent storm snow continues to settle into a slab.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for this layer is dwindling but it may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain, especially where the snowpack is shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather over the past 10 days has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be steep rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong winds from variable directions have redistributed the recent storm snow, producing wind slabs in lee terrain features on all aspects.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to travel extremely cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Wind continues to have the most influence on our snow pack right now. Wind slabs are widespread in the alpine, and are likely dense (1 finger). Gullies are noticeably crossloaded and most are fat with new deposited snow. Treeline is similar, but the windslabs are a softer(4 finger). The amount of avalanche activity seen today suggests the Feb 10 layer is more pronounced at this elevation band. Windslab thickness also varies. Fresh avalanche crowns tell us these slabs can be up to 1m thick.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow on Saturday and Sunday are falling on a melt-freeze crust that was formed during Thursday’s storm.  The new snow may not bond well to the crust. Expect the deepest deposits in lee terrain features around treeline and alpine elevations.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent wind from the southwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 50-100 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on northeast facing slopes above 1900 m and on south-facing slopes in the alpine. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 120 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest and northwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline. Approximately 50-100 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south facing slopes) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Another similar weak layer is buried 80-150 cm. Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak facets layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches over the past week. Human triggering any of these layer is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 cm of snow fell during the day on Sunday. This new snow has been redistributed into soft wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-110 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. The potential may exist for avalanches triggered on the persistent slab to step down to these lower layers, resulting in large, destructive avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 40 cm of snow fell during Saturday night and Sunday's storm. The snow fell with southwest winds, likely forming wind slabs in lee terrain features. Below around 1800 m, the snow fell onto a melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday's storm. It may take a bit of time for the new snow to bond to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below storm snow, generally around 150 to 200 cm deep. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 cm of snow fell in the region on Sunday with associated strong winds, likely forming small wind slabs in the immediate lees of ridges. Below around 1800 m, expect the storm snow to sit on melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday's storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/d5acab3e-1612-4c56-a7ee-c15a4c5be035" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">See this MIN post for snowpack test results around the Duffey on this layer.</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B" /></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is just adding to the 150+ cm of snow that has fallen over the past week. Strong winds have likely formed wind slabs at upper elevations, especially in lee features. Expect to find more reactive slabs in wind loaded areas, and especially in places that received high snowfall amounts over the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">120-200 cm of snow sits on a weak layer that was a concern when the first waves of the storm hit the coast, but the strength of this layer has generally improved over the past week. This layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">50-90 cm of snow has fallen over the past week. Strong winds have likely formed wind slabs throughout the region. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is limited in this region about how well the new snow is bonding to this layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from various directions has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A week of stormy weather has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past week, particularly on northeast facing slopes above 1900 m and on south-facing slopes in the alpine. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Concern for these layers has dwindled, but they may still be worth considering in places such as steep, rocky, alpine terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong wind from the southwest has formed wind slabs in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Stormy weather over the past two weeks has deposited 80-120 cm of snow above a weak layer of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, particularly on north and east facing slopes above 1900 m. The potential exists for smaller avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in very large avalanches.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm, but has been less active recently. At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be steep rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong winds have redistributed the recent storm snow, producing wind slabs in lee terrain features. These slabs likely wont bond well to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Strong westerly winds have formed widespread wind slabs in the Alpine and at Treeline, with many slabs up to 120cm thick. The Dec 10th interface of surface hoar and/or facets is the most active layer at the moment, and has been the failure plane for numerous recent avalanches. Look for this layer down 50 to 100+cm in the snowpack. The basal layers remain weak, and although this is concerning there hasn't been as much avalanche activity stepping down to the base of the snowpack in recent days.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Upwards of 60 cm of snow accumulated on Sunday. This snow fell on a melt-freeze crust that was formed during Thursday's storm. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust in certain areas but that the storm snow can slide on the crust in other areas. Expect the deepest deposits in lee terrain features around treeline and alpine elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50-100 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50-100 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 80-150 cm. Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak facets layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches over the past week. Human triggering any of these layer is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of new snow is being redistributed into soft wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. A combined total of 60-110 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. The potential may exist for avalanches triggered on the persistent slab to step down to these lower layers, resulting in large, destructive avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">On Sunday, strong to extreme winds redistributed recent snow and formed wind slabs. In total, 60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 30 to 40 cm of snow fell during Saturday night and Sunday's storm. The snow fell with southwest winds, likely forming wind slabs in lee terrain features. Below around 1800 m, the snow fell onto a melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday's storm. It may take a bit of time for the new snow to bond to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below storm snow, generally around 150 to 200 cm deep. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 10 cm of snow fell in the region on Sunday with associated strong winds, likely forming small wind slabs in the immediate lees of ridges. Below around 1800 m, expect the storm snow to sit on melt-freeze crust formed by rain from Thursday's storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. While the layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/d5acab3e-1612-4c56-a7ee-c15a4c5be035" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">See this MIN post for snowpack test results around the Duffey on this layer.</span></a><span class="s_AA239A9B" /></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-30 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is just adding to the 150+ cm of snow that has fallen over the past week. Moderate to strong winds have redistributed recent snow and likely formed wind slabs at upper elevations, especially in lee features. Expect to find more reactive slabs in wind loaded areas, and especially in places that received high snowfall amounts over the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">120-200 cm of snow sits on a weak layer that was a concern when the first waves of the storm hit the coast, but the strength of this layer has generally improved over the past week. This layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">60-90 cm of snow has fallen over the past week. Moderate to strong winds have redistributed recent snow and likely formed wind slabs throughout the region. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information is limited in this region about how well the new snow is bonding to this layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80-120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Low density snow from the past few days sits above wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80-120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm and a crust that formed in late October is found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong winds have redistributed the recent storm snow, producing wind slabs in lee terrain features. These slabs likely won't bond well to underlying surfaces.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Avalanche activity, remote triggering, and snowpack test results tell us that it is a critical layer. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Wind slabs are widespread in the Alpine and at Treeline, with slabs up to 120cm thick. The Dec 10th surface hoar/facet interface remains active, with easy to moderate shears down 40 to 60cm. The basal layers are very weak and facetted, with occasional ski penetration to ground when you leave the up-track. Forecasters experienced a very large settlement today which indicates the snowpack remains prime for human-triggering.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Upwards of 60 cm of snow accumulated on Sunday. This snow fell on a melt-freeze crust that was formed during Thursday's storm. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust in certain areas but that the storm snow can slide on the crust in other areas. Expect the deepest deposits in lee terrain features around treeline and alpine elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50-100 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5-15 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50-100 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 80-150 cm. Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches over the past week. Human triggering any of these layer is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of new snow is being redistributed into soft wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. A combined total of 60-110 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. The potential may exist for avalanches triggered on the persistent slab to step down to these lower layers, resulting in large, destructive avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme winds have redistributed new snow in the alpine and treeline, stripping areas exposed to the wind and creating hard wind slabs in wind-loaded terrain. In total, 60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow on Wednesday should fall with strong southwest winds, possibly producing small wind slabs in the immediate lees of terrain features. Below 1800 m, storm snow from last weekend may not be bonding well to an underlying crust. </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">See this MIN report for such an example.</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715"> Otherwise, reports indicate that the recent snow is bonding well to the snowpack. Also note that the recent storms have grown cornices, which are relatively large for this time of year.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Wind slabs may linger in lee terrain features at high elevations. Otherwise, reports suggest that the recent snow is bonding well to the snowpack. Below around 1800 m, expect recent storm snow to sit on a melt-freeze crust. Although limited reports are available, recent MIN posts suggest that the snow is bonding relatively well to the crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for 5 days. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover. A very large trigger, such as a cornice fall, would likely be needed to form an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust to approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m this new snow is just adding to the 150+ cm of recent snowfall from the past week. Moderate to strong winds have redistributed recent snow and likely formed wind slabs at upper elevations, especially in lee features. Expect to find more reactive slabs in wind loaded areas, and especially in places that received high snowfall amounts over the weekend.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">120-200 cm of snow sits on a weak layer that was a concern when the first waves of last weeks storm hit the coast, but the strength of this layer has generally improved over the past week. This layer consists of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts that formed during the dry spell in early December. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm new snow since Saturday is being redistributed by recent winds and likely formed wind slabs and cornices throughout the region. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The storm snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. This layer is buried 60-100 cm and information is limited in this region about how well the new snow is bonding to this layer. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10-20 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80-120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Low density snow from the past few days sits above wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80-120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm and a crust that formed in late October is found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Recent sunny skies have produced a thin sun crust on southerly aspects. Dry, soft snow is found elsewhere.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer for 5 days, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">New snow on Wednesday will fall on about 50 cm of recent snow, which sits on a thick melt-freeze crust. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust. Strong winds on Wednesday may redistribute snow, producing wind slabs in lee terrain features. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50 to 100 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 15 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50 to 100 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 80 to 150 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches over the past week. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of fresh snow is being redistributed into soft wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. A combined total of 60-110 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. The potential may exist for avalanches triggered on the persistent slab to step down to these lower layers, resulting in large, destructive avalanches.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Strong to extreme winds have redistributed new snow in the alpine and treeline, stripping areas exposed to the wind and creating hard wind slabs in wind-loaded terrain. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In total, 60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets. It is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of snow fell on Wednesday, covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Below this, about 30 cm of recent storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust below around 1800 m. Reports are limited, but they suggest that the snow is bonding well to the crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for 5 days. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover. A very large trigger, such as a cornice fall, would likely be needed to form an avalanche on this layer.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust at elevations below approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m, this new snow is just adding to the 150+ cm of recent snowfall from over a week ago. Moderate to strong winds have redistributed recent snow and formed wind slabs at upper elevations, especially in lee and cross-loaded features. Expect to find more reactive slabs in wind loaded areas, and especially in places that receive higher snowfall amounts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total 120-200 cm of mid-December snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts. This layer was initially a concern when snowfall first accumulated, but the strength of this layer has generally improved. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm recent snow have been redistributed by wind and formed slabs in the alpine and treeline. Wind-loading and cornice growth was noted on Sunday. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In total, 60-100 cm covers a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information about about how well the December snow is bonding to this layer is limited in this region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Low density snow from the past few days sits above wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80-120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ridevalemount/videos/1956690941302124/" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">VARDA has posted a video that provides a great visual on our snowpack</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on northeast facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Another weak layer from mid-November is now buried up to 150 cm and a crust that formed in late October is found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 5 cm of snow fell on Wednesday. This fell on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer for about a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Wind slabs are widespread in the Alpine and at Treeline in lee and cross-loaded terrain. The Dec 10th surface hoar/facet interface is prominent throughout the forecast area and continues to produce easy to moderate shears down 40 to 60cm. The basal layers are very weak and facetted, with occasional ski penetration to ground when you leave the up-track.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 to 20 cm of snow fell on Wednesday. This snow may not bond well to underlying surfaces, particularly in the north of the region where the snow may have fallen on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper, about 60 cm of recent snow sits on a thick melt-freeze crust. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust in certain areas but may be slower to bond in other areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 60 to 120 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 15 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 25th. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm of fresh snow is being redistributed around lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. A combined total of 60-110 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Several other weak layers have been observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. With this weak basal snowpack, it is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to these lower layers, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Winds have redistributed snow in the alpine and treeline, stripping areas exposed to the wind and creating hard wind slabs in wind-loaded terrain. In total, 60-90 cm of recent snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets over a crust on the ground. It is very likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 cm of low-density snow is poorly bonded to a weak layer of feathery surface hoar, reported to be widespread and 5 to 10 mm in size. Snow amounts will be deepest and touchiest in the lees of terrain features immediately adjacent to ridges.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below 1800 m, around 50 cm of storm snow may not be bonding well to an underlying crust </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. In other areas, reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of sugary facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">5 to 10 cm of low-density snow fell on Wednesday, covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Below this, about 30 cm of recent storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust below around 1800 m. Reports are limited, but they suggest that the snow is bonding well to the crust. Expect the deepest deposits of storm snow to be in lee and cross-loaded terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for the past week. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover. A very large trigger, such as a cornice fall, would likely be needed to form an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 25 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust at elevations below approximately 1000 m. Above 1000 m, this new snow is just adding to the 150+ cm snowfall through December. Recent winds redistributed snow. Wind slabs are present at upper elevations, especially in lee and cross-loaded features. Expect to find more reactive slabs in wind loaded areas, and especially in places that receive higher snowfall amounts.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total 100-200 cm snow sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts. This layer was initially a concern when snowfall first accumulated, but the strength of this layer has generally improved. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 20 cm recent snow has been redistributed by wind and formed slabs in the alpine and treeline. Deeper and more sensitive wind deposits are likely to be found at higher elevations and in wind-loaded areas. Incoming snow may not bond well this wind-pressed surface.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In total, 60-100 cm covers a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information about about how well the December snow is bonding to this layer is limited in this region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Low density snow from the past few days sits above wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 90-160 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ridevalemount/videos/1956690941302124/" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">VARDA has posted a video that provides a great visual on our snowpack</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November and a crust that formed in late October are found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 5 to 10 cm of snow sits on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer for about a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">A few centimeters fell overnight, but not enough to cause a change in the snowpack. The continued cold temperatures are weakening the snowpack through faceting. This is a double edge sword, windslabs are weakening ,which will help stability in some places. But at the same time, the surface faceting will probably create another weak layer once we get more snow. Is the glass half empty, or half full? Snow depths vary through the region. Treeline has about a meter, while the valley bottoms have about 60cm. Generally the Dec 10th is down about 50-70cm at treeline. The &quot;touchyness&quot; of the Feb 10th seems to vary from drainage to drainage. Have a look/assessment if you are traveling in new terrain or haven't been out in awhile.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 cm of recent snow may not be bonding well to underlying surfaces. This is particularly the case in the north of the region, where the snow may have fallen on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper, about 60 cm of recent snow sits on a thick melt-freeze crust. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust in certain areas but may be slower to bond in other areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A building storm is now depositing new snow on the surface. Below the new snow,</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 60 to 120 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Light snowfall has begun to bury 5 to 15 cm of older low density snow on the surface. This older snow sits on wind-affected surfaces in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 25th. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 cm fresh snowfall accumulated through the week has been redistributed around lee areas at treeline and alpine elevations. In total, 60-110 cm of snowfall through December has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). This overlies several other weak layers observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. With this weak basal snowpack, it is likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to these lower layers, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper snowpack consists of hard wind slabs on north aspects, scoured and a shallower snowpack on south aspects, and a mixed bag of lower density snow in more sheltered areas. In total, 60-90 cm of December snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. Though avalanche activity on this layer has slowed down in recent days, it may still be easy for humans to trigger avalanches on this layer in certain terrain features. Steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, places where the snowpack depths are variable, and large convex features are some of the more likely places to trigger this layer.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets over a crust on the ground. It is very likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 40 cm of low-density snow is poorly bonded to a weak layer of feathery surface hoar, reported to be widespread and 5 to 10 mm in size. Snow amounts will be deepest and touchiest in the lees of terrain features immediately adjacent to ridges.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below 1800 m, around 50 cm of storm snow may not be bonding well to an underlying crust </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. In other areas, reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of sugary facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">15-30 cm of recent new snow covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Below this, about 30 cm of recent storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust below around 1800 m. Reports are limited, but they suggest that the snow is bonding well to the crust. Expect the deepest deposits of storm snow to be in lee and cross-loaded terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for the past week. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the base of the snowpack, a crust exists with weak and sugary facets beneath it. This could potentially still be of concern in high north-facing aspects where the snowpack rests on very smooth ground cover. A very large trigger, such as a cornice fall, would likely be needed to form an avalanche on this layer.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow starting early Friday morning deposited 20-25 cm snow around the region by Friday evening. Continued heavy snowfall is expected to deposit substantial amounts by Saturday morning. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Prior to snowfall, wind redistributed the upper 25 cm of recent snow. Wind slabs are present at upper elevations, especially in lee and cross-loaded features. Below 1000m, this 25 cm recent snow sits on a melt-freeze crust, above 1000m the 25 cm recent snow adds to the 150+ cm snowfall of mid-December. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A total 100-200 cm snow from mid-December sits on a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow), and crusts. This layer was initially a concern when snowfall first accumulated, but the strength of this layer has generally improved. The surface hoar is most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, and is something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts, including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Snow starting early Friday morning deposited 5-15 cm snow around the region by Friday evening.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Under the new snow, 20-30 cm of recent snow was redistributed by wind and formed slabs in the alpine and treeline. This adds to the snowfall received through December. In total, 50-100 cm covers a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry spell in early December. Information about about how well the December snow is bonding to this layer is limited in this region. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A building storm is now depositing new snow on the surface. Below the new snow, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 120 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A building storm is now depositing new snow on the surface. Below the new snow, a new layer of surface hoar was recently observed growing on the snow surface at treeline and above. This covers a few centimeters of low density snow from the past few days, which itself sits above a layer of wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 90-160 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ridevalemount/videos/1956690941302124/" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">VARDA has posted a video that provides a great visual on our snowpack</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">. This layer was previously responsible for large persistent slab avalanches, but activity has greatly diminished over the last week. Saturday's storm may breathe some life into it, the places of greatest concern will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November and a crust that formed in late October are found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 10 to 15 cm of snow sits on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer for about a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Well not much be a changing except the snowpack is getting weaker.  The cold temps are facetting out the entire snowpack especially in thinner areas.  The winds earlier in dec have made the snowpack highly variable.  Areas that are normally &quot;deep&quot; at this time of year are very shallow.  As the Dec 10th interface has improved in strength the basal facets have gotten worse.  The alpine snowpack has settled while treeline areas are where forecasters are very cautious and hyper alert.  Pockets of old windslabs are carefully perched over the underlying facets and with thin weak areas widespread, human triggerring is possible for sure.  Stick to conservative terrain.  The snowpack is below average for this time of year.  </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-40 cm of recent snow at the highest elevations in the region may not be bonding well to underlying surfaces. This is particularly the case in the north of the region, where the snow may have fallen on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar. The latest storm Friday night into Saturday may have come in quite warm where precipitation is rain resulting in moist or wet surface snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper, about 60 cm of recent snow sits on a thick melt-freeze crust. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust in certain areas but may be slower to bond in other areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm left about 20-30 cm of new snow on the surface. Below the new snow,</span><span class="s_E6FD2046"> </span><span class="s_3FE45715">10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 70 to 130 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. </span><span class="s_3FE45715">Although activity at this layer has greatly diminished over the last week, it remains a concern for the possibility of surface slabs acting as a trigger for 'step down' avalanches. The places of greatest concern for this type of avalanche will be</span><span class="s_3FE45715"> north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 10-20 cm of new snow to the region, burying 5 to 15 cm of older low density snow on the surface. These surface layers sit on a layer of wind-affected snow in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. All of these weak layers have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 25th. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm added approximately 20 cm new snow, accompanied by strong southeasterly winds. In total, 80-130 cm of snowfall through December has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). All this overlies several other weak layers observed in the lower snowpack such as crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. With this weak basal snowpack, it is possible that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to these lower layers, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper snowpack consists of hard wind slabs on north aspects, scoured and a shallower snowpack on south aspects, and a mixed bag of lower density snow in more sheltered areas. In total, 60-90 cm of December snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. This layer is most likely to be triggered on steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, areas where the snowpack depths are variable, or on large convex features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets over a crust on the ground. It is very likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">40-50 cm of recent new snow sits on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Snow amounts will be deepest and touchiest in the lees of terrain features immediately adjacent to ridges.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below 1800 m, around 50 cm of storm snow may not be bonding well to an underlying crust </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of sugary facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of recent new snow covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Below this, about 30 cm of recent storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust below around 1800 m. Reports are limited, but they suggest that the snow is bonding well to the crust. Expect the deepest deposits of storm snow to be in lee and cross-loaded terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and surface hoar lies below all this storm snow, around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for the past week. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Areas around Terrace have seen as much as 60 cm new snow since the storm started Friday morning accompanied by strong westerly winds. A pre-Christmas layer of surface hoar was previously buried on or around December 22, and is now buried 50-80 cm below the surface. It is unclear how reactive this layer is, but its presence could easily increase the potential size of avalanches from the storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, sitting somewhere between 120-200 cm below the surface lies a weak layer from mid-December. This layer was initially a concern when snowfall first accumulated, but the strength of this layer has generally improved. The surface hoar was most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The most recent storm has deposited approximately 30 cm new snow with strong winds from the west. Buried under the snow in sheltered areas, you may find one or two weak layers comprising surface hoar (feathery crystals) and/or facets (sugary snow). The upper one may have been buried around December 22 and is likely buried 30-50 cm below the surface. The lower one was buried in early December and is now approximately 80-120 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Three different parties have reported recent whumpfing in the Telkwa and Hankin areas, possibly on the facets near the base of the snowpack, or on one of the other weak layers. This indicates the snowpack should not be completely trusted at this time.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm left about 30-40 cm of new snow on the surface. Below the new snow, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 100 to 140 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. Although activity at this layer has greatly diminished over the last week, it remains a concern for the possibility of surface slabs acting as a trigger for 'step down' avalanches. The places of greatest concern for this type of avalanche will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm left about 30-40 cm of new snow on the surface in the region. Below the new snow, a new layer of surface hoar was recently observed growing on the previous snow surface at treeline and above. This weak interface covers a few cm of older low density snow from a few days ago, which itself sits above a layer of wind affected snow in the alpine and around treeline.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 110-180 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. Although activity at this layer has greatly diminished over the last week, it remains a concern for the possibility of surface slabs acting as a trigger for 'step down' avalanches. The places of greatest concern for this type of avalanche will be north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November and a crust that formed in late October are found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-40 cm of snow sits on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow is poorly bonded to a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer for about a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. It is best to remain conservative and travel cautiously with this layer in the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">8cm new in the Alpine over the past 24hrs and a few cm throuhgout the day but overall, wind was the main theme. Strong winds from the west pummelled the snowpack creating widespread hard slabs in open areas. The Dec 10th and the weak layer of facets underneath this layer are the main culprits these days as any failures in the snowpack are going to involve the weak basal facets and the majority of the snowpack. Ski quality is pretty dismal for sure. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The latest storm Friday night and Saturday was quite warm where it rained to the 1500 m elevation and perhaps above. This has resulted in moist or wet surface snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the highest elevations, an additional 40-60 cm of recent snow may not be bonding well to underlying surfaces. This is particularly the case in the north of the region near Squamish, where the snow may be sitting on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Deeper, about 60-90 cm of recent snow sits on a thick melt-freeze crust. Reports indicate that the snow is bonding well to the crust.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 25-35 cm of new snow on the surface, with some isolated areas receiving up to 50 cm. Below the new snow interface, which appears for the most part to be free of any weak surface hoar crystals, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 70-130 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce reports of any avalanches 'stepping down' to trigger it. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 20-30 cm of new snow to the region, burying 5 to 15 cm of older low density snow on the surface. These surface layers sit on a layer of wind-affected snow in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-pack and basal weak layers described above have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 25th. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Approximately 20 cm recent storm snow was accompanied by strong winds that blew first from the southwest and then from the northwest. A weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) was buried on Boxing day in this region and is now buried 20-30 cm below the surface. This layer could be an issue in areas where wind has blown the snow into drifts. 80-130 cm below the surface is an old persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of facets (sugary snow) with some isolated areas also containing small surface hoar (feathery crystals). While professionals are still tracking this layer, it has not been reactive for some time now. Near the bottom of the snowpack lies a mix of crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. Triggering an avalanche at the base of the snowpack is unlikely at this time, although the most likely place to do so would be from a steep rocky start zone in an area where the snowpack was shallow.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper snowpack consists of hard wind slabs on north aspects, scoured and a shallower snowpack on south aspects, and a mixed bag of lower density snow in more sheltered areas. In total, 60-90 cm of December snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. This layer is most likely to be triggered on steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, areas where the snowpack depths are variable, or on large convex features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets over a crust on the ground. It is very likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-50 cm of recent new snow from the past 7 days potentially sits on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar in the tree line elevation band. Snow amounts will be deepest and touchiest in the lee of terrain features immediately adjacent to ridges.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below 1800 m, around 50 cm of storm snow may not be bonding well to an underlying crust </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of sugary facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There hasn't been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of recent new snow covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. Below this, about 30 cm of recent storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust below around 1800 m. Reports are limited, but they suggest that the snow is bonding well to the crust. Expect the deepest deposits of storm snow to be in lee and cross-loaded terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and/or surface hoar is buried around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for the past week. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Areas around Terrace have seen as much as 60 cm recent storm snow. Winds have shifted from southwesterly to northwesterly. A pre-Christmas layer of surface hoar was previously buried on or around December 22, and is now buried 50-80 cm below the surface. It is unclear how reactive this layer is, but its presence could increase the potential size of avalanches from the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, sitting somewhere between 120-200 cm below the surface lies a weak layer from mid-December. This layer was initially a concern when snowfall first accumulated, but the strength of this layer has generally improved. The surface hoar was most prevalent and has most recently been reactive between 1100-1300 m in more northern portions of the region, something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to areas like Ningunsaw.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715"> </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The most recent storm deposited 30-40 cm new snow with strong winds from the west. Buried under the snow in sheltered areas, you may find one or two weak layers comprising surface hoar (feathery crystals) and/or facets (sugary snow). The upper one may have been buried around December 22 and is likely buried 30-50 cm below the surface. The lower one was buried in early December and is now approximately 80-120 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Three different parties have reported recent whumpfing in the Telkwa and Hankin areas, possibly on the facets near the base of the snowpack, or on one of the other weak layers. This indicates the snowpack should not be completely trusted at this time.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 30-40 cm of new snow to the region. Below the new snow interface, which appears for the most part to be free of any weak surface hoar crystals, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 100-140 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce reports of any avalanches 'stepping down' to trigger it. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 35-45 cm of new snow to the region. In many areas, the new snow will overlie a weak layer of surface hoar that was reportedly widespread at treeline and above in advance of the storm. This weak interface covers a few cm of storm snow from light snowfalls in days prior to the storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 110-180 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce reports of avalanches 'stepping down'. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November and a crust that formed in late October are found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep, rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-40 cm of snow sits on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow sits on a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer in over a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">Up to 15cm fell saturday night into sunday. This has helped travel a little bit and even freshened up the skiing a bit in low angle trees, but from an avalanche perspective, not much has changed. It seems the snow arrived at the tail end of the wind event yesterday, but windslabs are still found on easterly aspects in the alpine and treeline. Remember that these slabs will sit on the freshly minted Dec 30 facet layer. It's uncertain how bad this layer is overall, but in steep areas expect a poor bond. Below the new stuff, its business as usual...new &amp; settled snow over the troublesome Dec 10 facet layer. </span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The latest storm Friday night and Saturday was quite warm where it rained to the 1500 m elevation and perhaps above. The temperature has since dropped below zero, so expect to see a crust near or on the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the highest elevations, an additional 40-60 cm of recent snow may not be bonding well to underlying surfaces. This is particularly the case in the north of the region near Squamish, where the snow may be sitting on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar. The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 25-35 cm of new snow on the surface, with some isolated areas receiving up to 50 cm. Below the new snow interface, which appears for the most part to be free of any weak surface hoar crystals, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 70-130 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce consistent reports of avalanches 'stepping down' to trigger it. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 20-30 cm of new snow to the region, burying 5 to 15 cm of older low density snow on the surface. These surface layers sit on a layer of wind-affected snow in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm deep. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The mid-pack and basal weak layers described above have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 25th. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 cm recent storm snow was accompanied by strong winds that blew first from the southwest and then from the northwest. This new snow covers a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals), which was buried on Boxing day. This layer could be an issue in areas where the wind has blown the snow into drifts. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">80 to 130 cm below the surface is an old persistent weak layer that formed in early December. This layer mostly consists of sugary facets with some isolated areas also containing feathery small surface hoar. While professionals are still tracking this layer, it has not been reactive for some time now. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack lies a mix of crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. Triggering an avalanche at the base of the snowpack is unlikely at this time, although the most likely place to do so would be from a steep rocky start zone in an area where the snowpack was shallow.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The upper snowpack consists of hard wind slabs on north aspects, scoured and a shallower snowpack on south aspects, and a mixed bag of lower density snow in more sheltered areas. In total, 60-90 cm of December snow has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of facets (sugary snow) that formed during the dry weather in early December. This layer is most likely to be triggered on steep features where the underlying ground cover is smooth, areas where the snowpack depths are variable, or on large convex features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of facets over a crust on the ground. It is very likely that an avalanche triggered on the persistent slab would step down to the lower facets, resulting in a full depth avalanche.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">30-50 cm of recent new snow from the past 7 days potentially sits on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar in the tree lin. Snow amounts will be deepest and touchiest in the lee of terrain features immediately adjacent to ridges.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Below 1800 m, around 50 cm of storm snow may not be bonding well to an underlying crust </span><a href="https://www.avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions/5901d492-190c-49ce-b236-979d62618a48" target="_blank"><span class="s_B5813F7D">(see here)</span></a><span class="s_3FE45715">.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer of sugary facets and surface hoar lies around 150 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack. There have not been reports of avalanches on this layer for over a week. That being said, this layer may still exist in isolated areas around treeline in some portions of the region.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the base of the snowpack, weak and sugary facets are found below an early-season melt-freeze crust. This weak layer has been the culprit for sporadic, very large avalanches in alpine terrain in the past few weeks. The avalanches have occurred in areas where the ground roughness is very smooth, for example glaciers, firn, and shale/rock slab slopes. An avalanche could be triggered in this layer with a very large trigger, such as a cornice fall.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-30 cm of recent new snow is covering what is reported to be a widespread weak layer of feathery surface hoar. This newly buried weak layer is reported to be most prevalent at the upper end of treeline on north and east aspects in the southern portion of the region near Coquihalla Summit and Manning Park. Expect the deepest deposits of storm snow to be in lee and cross-loaded terrain features.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">In the north portion of the region and possibly the far south, a weak layer of facets and/or surface hoar is buried around 100 to 150 cm deep. The weak layer appears most prominent around treeline, up to 2000 m. There has not been reports of avalanche activity on this layer for the past week. Although this layer is likely gaining strength, field observations show that slab avalanches remain possible on this layer where it exists.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Up to 50 cm of new snow are possible in the region, with rain at lower elevations. The storm is incoming with strong southwest winds, which will produce wind slabs in lee terrain features. A pre-Christmas layer of surface hoar was previously buried on or around December 22, and will likely be buried anywhere from 50 to 150 cm below the surface. It is unclear how reactive this layer is, but its presence could increase the potential size of avalanches from the recent storm snow.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Lower in the snowpack, sitting somewhere between 150 to 200 cm below the surface lies a weak layer from mid-December. It is likely that this layer was the culprit of a large, remotely-triggered avalanche on December 30 near Terrace. There are other reports indicating that this layer is still well-developed in the south of the region and it could be triggered by humans in shallow snowpack areas. For the north of the region, such as Ningunsaw, this layer was most prevalent between 1100 to 1300 m.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The weekend's storm deposited 30-40 cm new snow with strong winds from the west. Buried under the snow in sheltered areas, you may find one or two weak layers comprising surface hoar (feathery crystals) and/or facets (sugary snow). The upper layer may have been buried around December 22 and is likely 30-50 cm below the surface. The lower one was buried in early-December and is now approximately 80-120 cm below the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Deeper in the snowpack, there are several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Three different parties have reported recent whumpfing in the Telkwa and Hankin areas, possibly on the facets near the base of the snowpack, or on one of the other weak layers. This indicates the snowpack should not be completely trusted at this time.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 30-40 cm of new snow to the region. Below the new snow interface, which appears for the most part to be free of any weak surface hoar crystals, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals). </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 100-140 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce consistent reports of avalanches 'stepping down' to trigger it. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 35-45 cm of new snow to the region. In many areas, the new snow will overlie a weak layer of surface hoar that was reportedly widespread at treeline and above in advance of the storm. This weak interface covers a few cm of storm snow from light snowfalls in days prior to the storm.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 110-180 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. It is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce consistent reports of avalanches 'stepping down'. Places that might still challenge this assumption of dormancy would be steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and steep south-facing slopes in the alpine</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer from mid-November and a crust that formed in late October are found near the bottom of the snowpack. The probability of triggering these deeper layers is low, but the most suspect areas would be shallow spots in steep, rocky terrain.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">20-40 cm of snow sits on a thin sun crust on southerly aspects and small feathery surface hoar in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Beneath this, around 50 to 100 cm of snow sits on a rain crust and a weak layer of feathery surface hoar and sugary facets. Although there has not been a reported avalanche on this layer in over a week, snowpack test results tell us that it is still possible to trigger. The lower snowpack is well-settled.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_AA239A9B">No new snow on this cold (-28) and sunny Monday, but up to 15cm fell over the weekend. Pockets of fresh wind slab are found at upper elevations in lee and cross-loaded terrain, but these slabs are not widespread in distribution. Forecasters continue to have low confidence in the snowpack with 50 to 60cm of medium to high density snow overlying a very weak base of up to 50cm of facets. This is the perfect combination for avalanches. Despite a lack of recent naturally triggered avalanches, there is strong potential for human triggering with the current snowpack structure. Unfortunately, this state of affairs will be with us for some time to come.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The latest storm on the weekend was quite warm where it rained to the 1500 m elevation and perhaps above. The temperature has since dropped below zero, so expect to see a crust near or on the surface. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">At the highest elevations, an additional 40-60 cm of recent snow may not be bonding well to underlying surfaces. This is particularly the case in the north of the region near Squamish, where the snow may be sitting on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar. The middle and lower snowpack are well-settled. Snow depths increase substantially with higher elevations. Expect to find about 200 cm at treeline elevations.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 25-35 cm of new snow on the surface, with some isolated areas receiving up to 50 cm. Winds during and since the storm drove fairly aggressive wind slab development on most aspects at higher elevations. Outside of wind loaded areas, the new snow is showing good signs of bonding well to the old snow interface, which appears for the most part to be free of any weak surface hoar crystals. Below this interface, 10 to 20 cm of older low density snow sits above old wind slabs and more isolated small surface hoar.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Avalanche activity on the 70-130 cm deep weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December has greatly diminished over the last week. This aspect-dependant mix of facets, surface hoar, and sun crust is believed to be trending toward a dormant state after the loading test brought by Saturday's storm failed to produce consistent reports of avalanches 'stepping down'. A heavy trigger might still coax reactivity out of steep north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m or a steep south-facing slope in the alpine.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Saturday's storm brought about 20-30 cm of new snow to the region, while winds during and since the storm drove fairly aggressive wind slab development on most aspects at higher elevations. The new snow buried 5 to 15 cm of older low density snow on the surface. These surface layers sit on a layer of wind-affected snow in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 80 to 110 cm deep. The layer is composed of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust (on south aspects). Another similar weak layer is buried 90 to 150 cm deep. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Finally, the base of the snowpack has weak faceted layers at alpine and treeline elevations. These basal weak layers have been producing large avalanches as recently as December 31st. Human triggering any of these layers is most likely on slopes that didn't previously avalanche and on slopes that have variable snowpack depth (such as rocky alpine features).</span></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 20 cm recent storm snow was accompanied by strong winds that blew first from the southwest and then from the northwest. This new snow covers a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals), which was buried on Boxing Day.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">A persistent weak layer that formed in early December may be found 80 to 120 cm deep. This layer mostly consists of sugary faceted snow with some isolated areas also containing feathery surface hoar crystals. While professionals are still tracking this layer, it has not been reactive for some time now, except for the east side of the region near Corbin.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Near the bottom of the snowpack lies a mix of crusts and facets that formed in late October/early November. Triggering an avalanche at the base of the snowpack is unlikely at this time, although the most likely place to do so would be from a steep rocky start zone in an area where the snowpack was shallow.</span><span class="s_3FE45715" /></p>
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</style><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Large variability in snow depths still exists in the region, ranging from practically no snow to almost 200 cm. </span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">For areas with sufficient snow, the upper snowpack consists of hard wind slabs on all aspects due to variable wind directions, a scoured and shallow snowpack on exposed southerly ridges, and generally soft snow in sheltered areas.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">Around 60 to 90 cm of snowfall in December has formed a slab that sits on a persistent weak layer of weak and sugary faceted snow that formed during dry and cold weather in early December. This layer is most likely to be triggered on steep features where snowpack depths are variable.</span></p><p class="p_CC664AAA"><span class="s_3FE45715">The lower snowpack has a weak structure composed primarily of sugary faceted snow around a crust near the ground. Should a shallower avalanche be triggered, it is likely that it would step down and scour to the ground.</span></p>