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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 23rd, 2023–Nov 24th, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

There is some new snow in Eastern regions but no change overall. We are still operating with few field observations, but in steep terrain with enough snow, watch for slabs sitting over a weak base.

Early Season Conditions mean high variability right now.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural size 2.5 avalanche on Redoubt Bowl in the Lake Louise backcountry was observed. This happened within the last 36 hours and slid on the October crust. Today at Sunshine ski area, a size 1.5 persistent slab was triggered by a small sluff in cliffy terrain.

Snowpack Summary

An upslope storm lay down 30+ cm in Eastern regions like Norquay, 20cm in Banff and Sunshine ski area, and much less along hwy. 93 North and Yoho. This new snow overlies alpine and treeline areas that were previously scoured by strong SW winds, and a melt-freeze crust from recent solar input on south and west aspects. The bottom of the snowpack consists of a buried crust (Oct. 23) and facets. 30-50 cm exists at treeline and 40-80 cm in the alpine.

Weather Summary

High pressure will sprawl across the region on Friday. Mainly sunny skies and light northerly winds at ridgetop are anticipated. Temperatures will be cooler, with lows in the -13 to -18C range. This pattern will continue for the next few days.

For more details, click here.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Ice climbers should be equipped with avalanche safety gear.
  • Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.

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.