Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 21st, 2025–Dec 22nd, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, Dogtooth, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold.

Avalanche conditions remain dangerous.

Expect small avalanches in many areas, especially in lee features.

Stick to low-consequence terrain while the snowpack settles and stabilizes.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain.
  • Uncertainty is due to the speed, direction, or duration of the wind and its effect on the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

Saturday, many operations conducted explosive control work, producing storm/wind slabs (size 1.5-2.5). Snow was reactive to skier traffic and sluffing occured in steep terrain.

One larger slab (size 3.5) stepped down to the November crust on an alpine southeast aspect in the West Purcells.

Friday, natural storm/wind slabs (size 2-2.5) were observed, as well as accidentally triggered slabs (size 1 to 1.5) on north to east aspects, at alpine and treeline elevations.

Snowpack Summary

An additional 10-15 cm of snow has accumulated on top of the previous storm snow, bringing the total to 70-90 cm. This overlies a hard crust, formed in mid-December, that extends up to 2300 m. Wind has redistributed the recent snow in exposed terrain.

Where the crust is thick and supportive, it effectively caps a few mid-snowpack instabilities, making them difficult to trigger. These layers, now over 150 cm deep, may still be a concern in the high alpine where the crust is thin or nonexistent.

Snowpack depth is around 220 cm at treeline, tapering with elevation below 1500 m.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow, 20+ cm in high terrain in the central Selkirks and west Purcells. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 4 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Don't let the desire for deep powder pull you into high consequence terrain.
  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
  • Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.