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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 14th, 2025–Mar 15th, 2025

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus.

An abundance of recent storm snow needs time to settle and bond.

Keep it simple. Enjoy the fresh powder in lower-angled, low-consequence terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

With continuous storm cycles in the past week, numerous natural and human-triggered storm slab avalanches have been reported throughout the region.

Stick to conservative terrain and watch for changing conditions. Rider-triggered avalanches remain likely on Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

An additional 5 to 10 cm is expected on Saturday, which will bring this week's storm totals to 100 to 150 cm of new snow. The storm snow is settling out rapidly. This sits on a weak layer formed in early March that consists of a crust on all aspects except high north-facing slopes and facets or surface hoar in some areas.

Weak layers formed in mid-February and late January are now buried 150 to 250 cm deep. We suspect these layers have mainly healed, but observations have been limited by stormy conditions.

Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Increasing cloud cover. 5 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 15 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 C. Freezing level 1100 m.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. 15 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Monday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level rising to 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid lee and cross-loaded slopes at alpine and treeline elevations.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers and result in very large avalanches.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.