{"blocks":[{"key":"6gkg1","text":"Open terrain continues to be heavily affected by west and northwest wind, which has been actively loading lee terrain features and seems to have pushed our region's persistent weak layers to their breaking point. In sheltered areas, about 10-15 cm of new snow now overlies crusts that can be found up to roughly 1200 m as well as on open south-facing slopes. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8d7tv","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2bbni","text":"A weak layer of faceted snow that formed during cold weather in mid January is one likely failure plane responsible for the recent rash of very large avalanches in the region. Depending on location this layer may be composed of soft facets, surface hoar, or both. It is buried approximately 60-120 cm below the surface. As a product of previous widespread cold temperatures, the faceted snow associated with this layer exists all over the region, however it may be bridged over by a firm crust at lower elevations.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"fr4qq","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"1c03l","text":"An older Crust/facet layer from November, lurking at the base of the snowpack, is the more widely observed culprit in recent persistent slab activity, having produced many very large avalanches since February 3rd.  As a product of old, weak snow from the early season, this layer is most likely to be found at high elevations.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[{"offset":9,"length":11,"key":0}],"data":{}},{"key":"6o60t","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"8n7jh","text":"The most recent activity with these deeper snowpack layers has been around Smithers, Hazelton, Kispiox and the Babines, but it should be assumed that they are widespread problems.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}}],"entityMap":{"0":{"type":"LINK","mutability":"MUTABLE","data":{"href":"https://www.avalanche.ca/glossary?q=facets#facetcrust-layer","target":"_self","url":"https://www.avalanche.ca/glossary?q=facets#facetcrust-layer"}}}}