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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 10th, 2025–Mar 11th, 2025

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

South Rockies, Akamina, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

Assess bond of new snow to underlying surfaces. Take extra caution transitioning into wind affected terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Thurs: No new avalanches were reported, but snowpack tests done by our field team east of Elkford suggest that the persistent weak layer is still triggerable by humans.

Looking forward: Avalanches on buried weak layers may be difficult to trigger, but if one is triggered, it is likely to be large and destructive.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 8 cm of new snow is being redistributed by strong southwest winds. Below 1900 m, and on solar aspects, this sits on a surface crust from recent sun and warming.

At treeline and above, the new snow falls on 5 to 10 cm of snow that has been redistributed by predominantly southwest wind.

The main feature of the region's overall shallow snowpack is a persistent weak layer of surface hoar or facets from late January now buried 40 to 80 cm deep. This layer was the cause of several avalanches last week.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Mainly cloudy, with up to 3 cm of snow. 15 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday

Mainly cloudy, with flurries. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Wednesday

Mainly cloudy, with up to 3 cm of snow 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C.

Thursday

Mainly cloudy, with up to 10 cm of snow 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.