Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Dec 29 – 30, 2024Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Seek out sheltered soft snow for the best, safest skiing and riding. Wind slabs formed over weak grains could be surprisingly reactive in shallow, rocky areas.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Old, hard wind slabs sitting on faceted snow in shallow, rocky start zones may react to a human or machine trigger.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches have been observed recently.

Skiers remote-triggered a large wind slab from 100 m away in Little Simpson on Hudson Bay Mountain on Monday. It failed on faceted snow, a reminder that weak grains can extend the reactivity of wind slabs.

Up north, a 40 cm-deep layer of surface hoar on the early-December crust was reactive to skiers in the Ningunsaw area last week. The roadside Ningunsaw slide path produced size 2.5 and size 3 avalanches on Monday and Tuesday night.

Snowpack Summary

Light new snow amounts have been combining with older wind slabs and with otherwise heavily wind affected surfaces in the alpine and at treeline. Pockets of soft snow continue to offer enjoyable surface conditions in more sheltered, lower angle terrain.

A crust from early December is the most prominent layer in the snowpack and is now buried 30 to 50 cm deep. In some areas, a weak layer of surface hoar may found at this interface. Faceted snow is perhaps more likely to find here and poses a similar problem, particularly in shallow, rocky start zones.

The are no layers of concern below the early December crust.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 15 km/h southeast ridgetop wind shifting southwest. Treeline low temperature -9 °C.

Sunday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries continuing from overnight. Minimal accumulations. Calm to 10 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -7 °C.

Monday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 5 to 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -7 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind, increasing. Treeline high temperature -8 °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.
  • Seek out wind sheltered terrain below treeline where you can avoid wind slabs and find great riding.

Regions covered