Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2025–Feb 17th, 2025

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

Regions

Glacier.

New snow sits upon weak, sugary facets. That ain't sweet! This will easily sluff in steep terrain, and natural avalanches can be expected in extreme terrain at upper elevations.

Keep the Jan 30th persistent weak layer in the back of your mind, especially on solar slopes where facets sit on a buried suncrust.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

We have observed small (up to size 1) dry loose natural and rider triggered avalanches in steep unsupported terrain this week.

Field teams and MIN reports have observed some whumping and cracking in exposed areas.

Neighbouring operations, particularly to the west, are still reporting rider & remote triggered avalanches on the Jan 30th layer.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of new snow sits on a faceted upper snowpack. Open areas in the alpine & treeline had extensive wind affect that is now softening due to surface faceting.

A weak layer of surface hoar, facets and/or suncrust (Jan 30th) is 20-50cm down. This layer has been showing signs of reactivity on solar slopes, where facets sit on a suncrust.

The Jan 7th layer is down 50-80 and is decomposed surface hoar or a thin crust on South and West aspects. This layer has been inactive recently.

Weather Summary

A return to a benign weather pattern with light winds and cool temps

Tonight Cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine low -12°C. Ridge winds E 10km/hr

Mon Mix of sun/cloud. Alp high -9°C. Light ridge wind.

Tues A mix of sun/cloud. Alp high -11°C. Light SE wind.

Wed A mix of sun/cloud. Alp high -8°C. Light SE wind.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Be careful with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.