Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Looks to be a fairly nice weekend. Check to see if the Oct 26 layer is present on slopes you are using, and if there is a slab on top that could be of concern.
Weather Forecast
The weekend looks mainly dry with 3000m temperatures in the -12 to -15C range, and valley bottom temperatures topping out at -5C. Winds will decrease Saturday and remain NW.
Snowpack Summary
In the alpine, 20-50cm with variable wind effect sits on the Oct.26th temperature crust, can be found mainly on shaded aspects in the alpine,and is a few cm thick above weak facets. Total snowpack depths are 60-120cm+ in the alpine, tapering dramatically at treeline and below threshold for avalanches below treeline.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported today. Over the previous few days there have been numerous avalanches on the Oct 26 interface. This includes skier remote triggered avalanches to size 2 along hwy 93N, and remote triggered avalanches to size 2.5 from explosives at the Lake Louise ski hill that were 250m and 350m away from the initial explosive.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.