Avalanche Forecast - Sea-to-Sky   
Date Issued   Friday, 24 February 2012 6:34 PM   	   	
Valid Until    Saturday, 25 February 2012 4:00 PM

Public Avalanche Forecast

Saturday Danger Rating:   
  Alpine - 4 - High Very dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain not 
               recommended.
  Treeline, Below Treeline - 3 - Considerable Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack 
               evaluation, cautious route finding and conservative decision making essential.
  Confidence: Good

Wind Slabs

Strong winds and new snow have created wind slabs ripe for human triggering.

Storm Slabs

Storm slabs will continue to form at all elevations with forecast snow. They may be particulary 
reactive where they exist in combination with buried crusts, facetted snow, and/ or in sheltered 
areas where buried surface hoar lingers.

Travel and Terrain Advice

    Avoid all avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
    Avoid freshly wind loaded features.
    The new snow will require several days to settle and stabilize.
    Whumpfing, shooting cracks and recent avalanches are all strong indicators of an unstable 
	  snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

Several size 2 natural and skier triggered avalanches occurred in wind loaded features in the 
last 24 hrs. Wind slabs continue to build on Northerly aspects and in places they sit on weak 
facetted surfaces and/or lower density snow. With new snow and strong winds I suspect wind slabs 
will continue to form, and storm snow instabilities to linger.A Special Avalanche Warning has 
been issued for the South Coast Inland, and Interior regions. Keep yourself informed by reading 
the daily updated Avalanche Bulletins, the Special Warnings, and knowing the conditions in 
your "local" mountains.

Snowpack Summary

An intense storm will likely bring up to 30cm of new snow by Saturday morning accompanied by 
moderate to strong southerly winds. Expect new deep windslabs on North through East facing terrain 
at treeline and in the alpine. These new slabs sit on a variety of old, wind modified surfaces. 
At lower elevations there are crusts in the midpack and protected areas harbour isolated patches 
of surface hoar. Below this, the lower snowpack is well bonded and strong.

Weather Forecast

Saturday: Expect snowfalls to taper under northwesterly winds. As winds shift to northeasterly 
late in the day we could see some convective flurries. Temperatures could reach -9.