Backcountry users are being urged to exercise extreme caution, particularly around alpine terrain north of Kaslo, as buried weak layers continue to create dangerous and highly unpredictable conditions.
Avalanche Canada has listed the danger rating in the Kaslo/Nakusp area as “high” for alpine terrain and “considerable” at the treeline and below.
Avalanche forecaster Ian Snowsell said the high rating reflects recent weather patterns in the region.
“A lot of storm snow over the last week or so has kind of accumulated in that area north of Kaslo. There are a couple buried weak layers within the snowpack that we’re still monitoring,” he said.
Snowsell said conditions are expected to remain touchy into the weekend, with some storm slabs failing naturally in certain areas.
“We just ask backcountry users to keep an eye on the forecast closely to see how officials are treating those layers as we watch how they develop as we get more snow on top of them,” he said.
Avalanche Canada’s Dec. 11 bulletin said between 20 and 50 centimetres of new snow fell in the area Wednesday, with strong southwest winds creating thick deposits in leeward terrain.
The new load is sitting over a layer of surface hoar and faceted snow buried 50 to 100 centimetres deep. This combination has been producing avalanches 40 to 100 centimetres deep on all aspects.
In the East and West Kootenay regions, the avalanche rating is listed as considerable.
Snowsell said recent rain at higher elevations, followed by a drop in temperatures, has helped stabilize the snowpack in these areas.
“In the East and West Kootenay regions, it’s rained quite high into the mountains and now with temperatures dropping, it’s just freezing the snowpack, making it nice and consolidated and tight and very stable,” he said.
“Now things are cooling off. Things will really freeze up. You’ll probably end up with quite a significant crust on the surface in a lot of places, which, while it will very much decrease the likelihood of triggering avalanches.”
Avalanche Canada reminds anyone travelling in alpine terrain to check local forecasts, travel with proper safety equipment, and adjust plans based on current conditions.
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