Kootenay Boundary Avalanche Report Jan 01
Full report found here:
http://avalanche.ca/cac/bullet.....-boundary/
Weather Forecast:
Saturday: Light snow will continue until the afternoon. The freezing level will drop to valley bottom again. Winds will remain moderate from the SW.
Sunday: A weak ridge of high pressure will build offering mainly dry conditions with moderate winds.
Monday: Another Pacific frontal system may bring light to moderate amounts of snow.
Avalanche Activity
Recent reports indicate loose snow and soft slab avalanches triggering easily by riders up to size 1.5. These are running on the buried surface hoar layer down 30-40cm. There have been 2 reports of skier triggered avalanches up to size 2 running on the buried crust layer from December 21. This would now be approximately 60cm below the snow surface.
As the new snow accumulates and settles into a slab, expect the buried layer of surface hoar down 30-40cm to become very reactive.
Snowpack
Up to 40cm of storm snow is now covering large surface hoar, or a sun crust on sun-exposed slopes. In some areas the surface hoar sits on top of this crust. This overlies 20-30 cm of faceted snow. Recent reports indicate a thin crust down approximately 30 cm that is providing a poor bond to the overlying slab. Below the snowpack is generally well settled.