April 4, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Decker Glacier Monday morning. Summary in Observations section.          Bryce Anderson Image

    7 Oclock Mtn remotely triggered cornice failure Sz 3 no involvement.              Toby Salin Image

    Sz 1 avalanche on Mount Currie.

    Wet loose avalanche activity below Rhododendron Mtn Monday.



   YESTERDAY:

    Monday April 3, 2017. Bluebird in the morning.

    Seracs and Cornices.

    Katabatic wind.

    Monday morning.

   Clouds moved in mid morning.                                                                        Julianne Budd Image

    Making snow on the Horstman Glacier Monday.                                                 Julianne Budd Pic

    Speed kiting behind Mt Currie, with some graupel slough's.

    Cloudier in the afternoon.

    Another awesome day in the mountains.


Weather Observations for April 4, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -9, Winds were 15-25 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 30-40 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -5, Winds were   5-15 KPH NE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -4, Winds were 15-30 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -5, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 336 cm Base, RH 80%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -4, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 253 cm Base, RH 90%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters      -2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +10.1, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have high overcast and unlimited visibility.



FORECAST:

Low pressure system moving in from the west in a Westerly flow aloft becoming Southwesterly later today. Overcast skies with a relatively dry day and the FL rising to 1500 meters. We can expect some precipitation tonight as a frontal band brings light/moderate precipitation to the area with strong winds. The front slowly moves through on Wednesday with precipitation and moderate winds. The FL will hover in the 1600 meter range. A series of frontal bands will bring light precipitation and overcast skies into the weekend, no real change until early next week.
Guesstimates: 10-15 cm by Wednesday morning, 10-20 cm by Thursday morning, 12-16 cm by Friday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am. Clouds have already moved into the area.

    Low will be sending thicker cloud our way this morning.

   Frontal band is coming in earlier than originally forecasted.

    Fast moving front.

    Looks like a weak atmospheric river for Wednesday.

    Low will be sending moisture and wind our way on Wednesday.



    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Decker Glacier avalanche Monday morning. Observations below.              Bryce Anderson Image

Witnessed a skier accidental yesterday morning on Decker.  Size 1 or 1.5 - photos attached.  One person involved, no burial - skied away.  Interesting up track.

Also witnessed an injury on the east side of Decker above Trorey Glacier from a distance.  Looked like a size 1 loose wet avalanche - solar aspect.  Not sure if the injury was because of the slough or not. There was a SAR call to there later in the morning. Bryce

    Come listen to Sylvain Sudan at Millennium Place on Saturday April 8. Click here for tickets

    Old fracture line on Mt Currie.

    An interesting looking Serac.

    A loose snow avalanche mostly consisting of graupel.

    This location must have had an intense graupel storm.

    Sastrugi was skiing well. Softer than it looked!!


    Small slab release with no where to go!!


ARTICLES:

Fewest avalanches recorded in 10 years: Scotland

4-year-old girl dies after being buried by a roof avalanche: Alaska

Probe into liability of avalanche deaths likely to be prolonged: Japan

Five things I would change in the ski industry: Backcountry Gates