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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 4th, 2025–Jan 5th, 2025

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

Regions

Yukon, Tutshi, Wheaton, White Pass East, White Pass West.

Increasing winds will impact loose snow. Check for wind-loaded pockets around ridgecrests and steep rolls.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday this MIN post reported whumpfing and shooting cracks west of White Pass.

On Tuesday, our field team noted a natural size 2 slab avalanche on a north aspect at 1300m. (See photo below). The slab was 20-30 cm deep and failed on facets above a crust, the weak layer described in the snowpack summary.

Reports have been limited, if you head out in the mountains, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Recent outflow winds have scoured windward faces in the alpine and loaded lee slopes. Up to 20 cm of soft snow can be found in sheltered areas.

The primary layer of concern is weak facets and in some cases surface hoar, overlying a crust. The interface is now buried 20 to 30 cm deep and extends up to 1750 m.

Despite the presence of faceted grains in the lower snowpack, there are no current layers of concern below the crust. 

Snowpack depths range from about 70 to 180 cm.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -25 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm. 30, gusting to 60 km/h ridgetop southwest wind. Treeline temperature -16°C.

Monday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, 5 cm. 40 to 80 km/h ridgetop south wind. Treeline temperature -10°C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, 5 cm. 40 to 80 km/h ridgetop south wind. Treeline temperature -10°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
  • Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.

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.