Banff Yoho Kootenay

We have few observations. Snow and wind along the divide over the next few days may make the alpine a little more tricky to manage due to loose dry avalanche potential.  This is especially  true for ice and alpine climbers.

0-5cm tomorrow with light to moderate West winds.  Increasing winds Monday and we may see up to 20cm accumulate from Monday to Tuesday at higher elevations along the Continental Divide.

Treeline snow depths range from 30-50 cm, and are up to 80 cm in the lees of alpine features. The snowpack is generally faceted with a thin October crust, down 10-80 cm, providing support to ski travel. The crust is not continuous across terrain, and found in areas with deeper snow. Below treeline, we are below threshold amounts to rate the hazard.

No new avalanches observed today. Earlier in the week, explosive control work in the alpine by the Lake Louise snow safety team triggered 2 pockets of wind slabs resulting in small size 1 avalanches failing on the Oct crust, ranging from 10 - 80 cm deep.