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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 23rd, 2024–Feb 24th, 2024

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Whatshan.

Don’t let the new snow lure you into high-consequence terrain.

There is a significant buried weak layer that can produce large avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday several small (size 1-1.5) persistent slab avalanches were triggered by riders failing on the crust layer from early February. This layer is now reaching a critical burial depth where it is both triggerable and deep enough to be dangerous.

Also, a few small and one large (size 2) storm slab avalanches were natural and accidentally triggered. All aspects and elevations.

Numerous storm and wind slab avalanches up to size 2 were reported on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

10 to 20 cm of recent snow with a lot more on the way has buried a variety of surfaces including surface hoar in sheltered terrain and old wind slab on exposed slopes. Several crusts exist on sun exposed slopes and below treeline.

Another layer of surface hoar is down around 20 to 50 cm in sheltered areas.

The widespread crust buried in early February is down 40 to 65 cm and has sugary facets on top. In most places, this crust is widespread up to 2400 m.

The base of the snowpack is still loose and faceted in shallow rocky alpine areas.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy with 15 to 30 cm of snow. 35 to 50 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 10 to 15 cm of snow. 25 to 45 km/h west alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 20 to 40 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 15 km/h west alpine wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.

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.