Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

Persistent slabs have been reactive on the February weak layer, predominantly in the alpine. Over the weekend and into Monday, a natural avalanche cycle included persistent slabs up to size 3 and explosive control work produced results up to size 3.5. On Tuesday, a skier remotely triggered a size 2.5 from 100 m away.

Looking forward, human triggering of large slabs remains a significant concern.

Snow at upper elevations has been wind-affected. Cornices are large and fragile. South-facing slopes and low elevations hold a surface crust.

Facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid February are buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer has produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches this week.

Deeper in the snowpack, a facet/crust layer from early December can be found from 100 to 300 cm deep. This layer appears to be dormant for now but we're keeping it on the radar as an isolated concern which may reactivate in the spring.

Wednesday night

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -5 °C. Freezing level 500 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy 1 to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Friday

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -2 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Saturday

Partly cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -5 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
• Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.
• Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.
• Stick to simple terrain or small features with limited consequence.