Please listen to the warnings this week. Avalanche Hazard will skyrocket

[Depsnolvr]

Hey all,

With the drought that we have seen in many areas of BC over the past while, this new snow is falling on one hell of a **** sandwhich. The avalanche hazard will be very real over the foreseeable future and I am asking that you all use caution and ask anyone you know heading to the mountains to do the same.

The snow will be great, there is no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Restraint will be key over the next while.

Ride safe

 

[birdie]

Hi Curtis

How were the conditions out there today

Birdie

 

[ferniesnow]

We rode the upper Elk Valley today. The snow is very skinny (50-60 cm only). We are a long way from Curtis and VARDA but with the recent cold spell taking all the moisture out of the snow pack, it is very chitty snow (facets abound). I can see where Curtis is coming from. A new load from the system that is moving through can reek havoc.

 

[Depsnolvr]

Wish i was out there. They sound deep!

Hi Curtis

How were the conditions out there today

Birdie

 

[Mike270412]

Wish i was out there. They sound deep!

We should have stayed one more day

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[drew562]

Lots of slides today in Revy. 4-5' on hard deck. It's super cold dry snow and won't stick till it warms up. Be safe !

 

[Depsnolvr]

Thanks for the heads up about the recent activity.

But just a note of caution. When the new snow "warms up" or has a bit of time on the ground, it will likely consolidate into a slab. Without being there, I would imagine the new snow does not have enough cohesion to produce large propagation (shooting crack) type avalanches. When the new snow settles a little (gains cohesion) we are likely to see much larger avalanches for a while as the persistent weak layer under neath will not heal any time soon.

Ride safe!

Lots of slides today in Revy. 4-5' on hard deck. It's super cold dry snow and won't stick till it warms up. Be safe !

 

[imdoo'n]

sure not sounding good for snow conditions, hope there is major improvement

 

[52weekbreak]

Is this snow pack set up similar to last year?

Thanks for the heads up about the recent activity.

But just a note of caution. When the new snow warms up, it will likely consolidate into a slab. Without being there, I would imagine the new snow does not have enough cohesion to produce large propagation (shooting crack) type avalanches. When the new snow settles a little (gains cohesion) we are likely to see much larger avalanches for a while as the persistent weak layer under neath will not heal any time soon.

Ride safe!

 

[Depsnolvr]

Well we will have at least two persistent weak layers in the snowpack that should cause some concern for the foreseeable future. The Nov crust and the most recent, facet/surfacehoar combo. The trouble with persistent problems in the snowpack is they can go to sleep for a while and wake up when people may have dropped their guard. The typical low probability / high consequence scenario.

Although for the near future, we are dealing with a pile of new load on a not so great bed surface, so we will see increased hazard for some time and as mentioned above, restraint will be key!

 

[kfrey]

I'm confirming what was said above for the Revy area. There is 130 to 150cm of snow over the Nov. crust with mostly facets above that and a surface hoar layer on top. Now there is all this new snow which will start to form slabs on top. Be careful.

 

[Depsnolvr]

This looks a lot like ITP? lol You must have been in the recent course? If so, congrats man!



[QUOT


E=kfrey;2346106]View attachment 201215 I'm confirming what was said above for the Revy area. There is 130 to 150cm of snow over the Nov. crust with mostly facets above that and a surface hoar layer on top. Now there is all this new snow which will start to form slabs on top. Be careful.[/QUOTE]

 

[kfrey]

Thanks. Avy ops 1 has a lot of valuable information. Spending a week with knowledgeable people was well worth it. I'll never look at the snowpack as "just snow" again. I'd recommend it to anyone who could take it.