Avalanche Conditions Report #4 - VIDEO

Welcome to Episode 4 of the 2024/2025 Avalanche Conditions Report with Jason from Whitewater Ski Resort. Avalanche Canada is currently rating the avalanche danger as low at all elevations, with no problems identified in our area.
  Times are changing with a major weather transition underway! This is an extremely important time to be very cautions while travelling in the backcountry. Forecast models are showing up to 25cm of new snow by Saturday evening with moderate to strong SW winds. On shaded aspects, this new snow will be sitting on ~30cm of snow from the entire month of January which has five surface hoar layers and surface facets over previous crusts. Solar aspects have a 2-5cm melt-freeze crust from warming earlier in the week. It is very likely that avalanche hazard will be considerable to high at all elevations and on all aspects.

As we transition out of a low hazard and a stable snowpack, it is extremely important to see how the new storm snow will react to weaknesses below. As hazards increase, it is very important to adjust your mindset to the new conditions. We're all excited to ski and ride pow again, but please don't let your guard down and let powder fever lead to bad decisions.

Respect the hazard, travel advice, closures, and the change in snowpack. There's still a lot of winter ahead and this pattern shift will hopefully start to produce a whole lot more snow.

We'll be back with Episode 5 and be sure to always check Avalanche Canada before heading into the backcountry!