Vancouver Island Avalanche Center
Monday December 28, 2020
Posted on Monday December 28, 2020 by Bill Phipps

Wednesday December 30, 2020
Alpine 	High
Treeline 	Considerable
Below Treeline 	Considerable

Tuesday December 29, 2020
Alpine 	Moderate
Treeline 	Moderate
Below Treeline 	Low

Monday December 28, 2020
Alpine 	Considerable
Treeline 	Moderate
Below Treeline 	Low

Confidence: High - Weather models in agreement and good field data.

Main Concerns

Loose Wet, Storm Slab

Travel & Terrain Advice

Watch steep direct solar slopes if things start to warm up when the sun comes out. The heat may increase the chance of loose wet avalanches. Pinwheels and tree bombs are a hint its getting dangerous.

Watch for shooting cracks in the snow as this is a significant sign of a weak dangerous layer underfoot.

Avoid all avalanche terrain when the rating is high for an elevation band and travel when the rating is considerable is certainly on the sketchy side of things as well. A good old saying is add the words “chance of death” after the danger/hazard rating word. As in “considerable chance of death”….

Avalanche Summary

There was a lot of avalanche action on the ski hill the past three days as the Mount Washington zone saw the most new snowfall for the island. Patrol reported a few avalanches from size one and a half to size two with explosives and numerous size ones with ski cutting. There were no reports of avalanche activity from other sources.