Retallack Cat Skiing

British Columbia Canada

Forecast Point 7,037 ft • 50.0045, -117.1744

    Avalanche Forecast

    Avalanche Forecasts are for use by experienced backcountry travelers in uncontrolled sidecountry and backcountry terrain. These forecasts and conditions do not apply to open, in-bounds terrain at ski resorts, which is subject to avalanche control by local resort ski patrol.

    Avalanche Rating

    Moderate (2)

    Valid Sun Dec 10 4:00pm PST 15 hours ago Until Mon Dec 11 4:00pm PST

    Storm snow remains triggerable at higher elevations. Uncertainty around a buried weak layer is best managed through conservative terrain choices.

    More Detail

    To get the complete forecast with additional graphics and details, please view the Avalanche Canada Zone forecast provided by Avalanche Canada .

    Snowpack Discussion

    25-50 cm of snow sits on a 3-15 cm melt-freeze crust. Below, previously moist snow from the rain event seems to have mostly refrozen.

    A layer of surface hoar buried ~45 cm has been observed to have miraculously survived the rain in some areas. It may have been largely cleaned out by avalanches during the recent storm, but could linger in isolated features. Triggering this layer is less likely in areas where the overlying crust is thicker and more supportive. We recommend treating this layer as suspect while we await more observations.

    Snow depth is generally 70-110 cm at treeline, tapering quickly below. The mid and lower snowpack may contain a weak facet layer in shallower areas.

    Avalanche Activity

    No new avalanches were reported this weekend.

    Many storm slab and loose wet avalanches released during the intense rainy conditions earlier this week. Natural avalanche activity likely tapered on Friday.

    We're uncertain on whether avalanches could still release on the surface hoar layer described in the Snowpack Summary, so travel cautiously until there is evidence it is bonding or has been destroyed.