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Observed a large avalanche today worth noting if you are thinking things have settled down. In our area, there was no appreciable new snow overnight, no sign of wind, skies were clear most of the night, and temperatures started at -8.5 last evening and were -15 this morning. At 0700 this morning we observed an avalanche that occurred overnight on the south side of Tsuius Mtn ~50° 42' 16" N 118° 25' 21" W. It appears a smaller avalanche from high on the ridge triggered a very large (size 4) slide on moderate ski terrain below. Aspect: southeast. Incline Inc. 45+ (initial failure) 25-40ish (bulk of the fracture lines) Elevation: 2450 for initial av, ~2250 for bulk of fracture lines Width: 1200m Depth: 60-150cm+ Run length: 2000m. Given that the snowpack in the westen Monashees has overall been pretty good compared to a lot of other parts of the interior, I think this is indicative of what you might expect in many regions of the Columbia, Purcell, and Kootenay Mtns and probably in the BC Rockies as well.
I'm busy rethinking my assumptions/intuition and double checking all my data at the moment and have gone back to a pretty conservative approach to the hills for now, especially in the alpine.
Stay safe out there.
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