Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Jasper, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.
The cold temperatures and brisk northerly winds will continue another day.
Carefully assess wind effected slopes if you're heading out into the hills.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
A natural size 2 wind slab on the east face of Boundary Peak was observed on Feb 11. Small wind slabs were also easily triggered by skiers on moraine features in the same area.
Snowpack Summary
The 10-25 cm from Feb 1st, mostly redistributed by wind, sits over top of a weak layer consisting of temperature crusts, winds slabs, or faceted snow. The midpack is weak and faceted. The early season crusts are faceting and breaking down but continue to persist along with large depth hoar at the base. The snowpack at tree line is 70-130 cm in the Icefields area and 50 cm in the Maligne area.
Weather Summary
Wednesday
A mix of sun and cloud.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: High -14 °C.
Ridge wind northwest: 20-30 km/h.
Thursday
A mix of sun and cloud.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: Low -20 °C, High -12 °C.
Ridge wind south: 10 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Moderate to strong northerly winds continue to load snow into leeward features, particularly in the icefields area.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Deep Persistent Slabs
A variety of crusts with facets above and below exist at the bottom of the snowpack. These layers are going to be with us for a long time and pose a low probability, high consequence situation if triggered.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 2 - 3