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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 8th, 2022–Mar 9th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

A skier accidental size 3 on Vermillion Peak today has created uncertainty with forecasters. Focus on North, shady and polar aspects, and avoid steep sunny slopes where this crust lives, even though the air temp is cold.

Weather Forecast

Cool temperatures will persist into Wednesday with the alpine ridge temp as cold as -25. Wednesday also appears generally clear with light wind from the SW. Cloud cover, and slightly warming temps are expected Thursday and Friday.

Snowpack Summary

5-20 cm of snow over a sun crust on steep solar aspects that exists up to about 2600 m. Little in the way of wind slab development today. February 16 sun crust down 20-40 cm on steep southerly aspects. January 30 facet or sun crust interface is down 50-80 cm. Lower snowpack is well settled. Typical shallow areas remain faceted.

Avalanche Summary

A skier triggered a large persistent slab (size 3)  on the south slope of Vermillion Peak. No involvement was reported. Details available on the MIN. This avalanche has created much uncertainty amongst forecasters. Forecasters also received a report of a cornice triggered size 2.5 avalanche on Mt. Carnavon in Yoho that occurred within 24 hours.

Confidence

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.