Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Great early season conditions continue, and its a good time to poke out into bigger terrain at higher elevations. Continue to be curious of where the surface hoar exists below treeline, and if there is a slab on top you can trigger. SH
Weather Forecast
A ridge of high pressure dominates the area through Friday. Friday afternoon 7-15 cm is forecast for the region accompanied by mainly light winds with stronger gusts. This may increase alpine hazard in the short term for Saturday if it comes to fruition.
Snowpack Summary
In sheltered terrain between 1700 and 2150m, 30-40 cm of snow sits over the December 3rd surface hoar. Easy to moderate shears found on this interface. No other significant shears have been observed in the snowpack. There is approximately 1 meter of snow at treeline,
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Problems
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.