Winds slab forming on North aspects

Map for Mountain Information Network report: Winds slab forming on North aspects

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:
OK
Snow conditions were:
  • Crusty
  • Wind affected
We rode:
  • Alpine slopes

Information

The day was:
  • Cloudy
  • Sunny
  • Windy
Avalanche conditions
  • Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Comments

There has been 20 cm of fresh snow at Fraser in the past 48 hours and strong gusting to extreme southerly winds. We had a ride out to the Summit WX station this morning expecting some softer riding conditions but as soon as we got out of the treeline we predominantly wind effected surfaces in the alpine. Heading down from the Summit WX station we remotely triggered a deep wind slab on a convex roll (see photo attached). This was on a North aspect at 1060 meters. The snow and strong winds over the previous days have made wind slabs ripe for triggering! Windslabs will need a few days to heal and bond. There was still non wind effected snow in the trees and riding quality was much better there. Be cautious of unsupported north-facing terrain features in the coming days.