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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 5th, 2025–Jan 6th, 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

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus.

Soft snow at upper elevations will become moist and heavy with rapidly warming temperatures and sun on Monday.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday and Saturday, numerous natural as well as skier- and explosive-triggered wind slabs were reported size 1-2. Most were in reverse-loaded lees of ridgetop on west to southwest aspects at alpine and treeline elevations.

Looking forward, natural and rider-triggered loose wet avalanches will become more likely.

Snowpack Summary

5 to 15 cm of recent snow sits over faceted old surfaces. The new snow has seen moderate wind effect at upper elevations. Any soft snow will likely become moist and heavy with temperatures rising above zero on Monday.

An otherwise right-side-up upper snowpack appears to be bonding well to a crust buried 70 to 100 cm deep. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and bonded with no deeper concerns.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Clear. 5 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Monday

Sunny. 5 to 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 2500 m.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2500 m to 2000 m.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 to 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches.
  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.