auto: Quick Report

Quick report

Weather

sunny

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Canada forecaster report: I was able to hitch a ride into the alpine on a helicopter with another professional snow safety organization to bring you the following observations: It's early season out there, although there is sufficient snow in the alpine to ski. Generally in the Selkirks east of Revelstoke you might expect to find 80-90 cm total height of snow in sheltered alpine locations. There is sufficient snow for avalanches on smooth slopes in the alpine. At treeline and below, only small avalanches are currently possible in isolated locations. This will change rapidly as more snow arrives. We observed a number of loose snow avalanches to size 2 and thin slab avalanches (size 1) affecting the top 20 cm of the snowpack in steep alpine terrain. The most striking aspect of the snowpack is the well developed surface hoar glistening on the surface that we measured up to 15mm in size at our profile location at 2030 m (E aspect). While we didn't confirm the geographic distribution, I would guess this layer exists from around 1600 m all the way to ridge top. It's not a problem while it's sitting on the surface, but may give a slippery layer once it is buried by one or more snowfalls. We found a soft layer of large crystals 20 cm below the surface, which failed readily in snowpack tests. This layer was probably the layer responsible for the small slab avalanches. At our location, these were thin enough to not have been of particular concern. However, I would be much more concerned about this layer in areas of wind loading.