Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bonnington, Crawford, Grohman, Kokanee, Kootenay Boundary, Kootenay Pass, Moyie, Norns, Retallack, Rossland, South Okanagan, St. Mary, Valhalla, Ymir.
Low danger doesn't mean no danger. Always watch for signs of instability and assess conditions as you travel.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
On Thursday in the Kokanee area, a skier triggered a size 1.5 slab on the buried crust detailed in the snowpack summary. This is the first report of an avalanche running on this crust in any region. The failure has not been repeatable in snowpack tests and appears to be an isolated incident at this time.
Data in this region is limited. Please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
Snowpack Summary
Various snow surfaces exist, including crusts, moist snow, settled powder, old wind effect.
A widespread hard crust is buried 40 to 60 cm deep. Recent observations indicate that facets may be developing ontop of the crust in isolated areas. The crust is effectively providing a bridge over an underlying surface hoar layer.
Average snowpack depths at treeline are roughly 70 to 130 cm. Snow depths taper dramatically at lower elevations.
Weather Summary
Saturday night
Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm new snow, ridgetop wind <20 km/h southwest, treeline temperature -3 °C. Above freezing layer breaking down, freezing level drops to 1000 m
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow, ridgetop wind 20-30 km/h northwest, treeline temperature -1 °C.
Monday
Mostly cloudy, ridgetop wind <20 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.
Tuesday
A mix of sun and cloud, ridgetop wind 15-25 km/h, treeline temperature -1 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Make observations and assess conditions continually as you travel.
- Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
- Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.