Avalanche Forecast

A remotely triggered size 3 avalanche was triggered on Monday just west of Kimberley. The avalanche was triggered from a ridgetop approximately 20 m away, propagated roughly 300 m, and was 30 cm deep on average. It is suspected this slide occurred on the buried crust/facet layer.

Numerous natural, skier, and explosive-triggered avalanches occurred on Sunday throughout the region. Avalanches occurred in upper treeline and alpine terrain on various aspects, sized 1 to 2.

The recent storm brought significant snowfall at higher elevations, which has been redistributed by strong alpine winds. Around 30 cm of snow now sits atop a variety of preexisting surfaces in the upper snowpack. These surfaces include sun crusts on south-facing slopes and faceted snow or surface hoar in sheltered, north-facing terrain.

A widespread crust exists down roughly 50 to 80 cm. In many areas, small, weak faceted grains have formed just above or below this crust.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Tuesday

Sunny with cloud building in the afternoon. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 to 20 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Good day to make conservative terrain choices.
• Give the new snow several days to settle and stabilize before pushing into bigger terrain.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
• Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.