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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 6th, 2025–Feb 7th, 2025

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie, St. Mary.

Choose mellow terrain and watch for signs of instability like whumpfs, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.

Check out the Forecaster Blog "Keeping a Conservative Mindset"

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, west of Creston, explosive avalanche control produced several large slab avalanches (up to size 2.5) in southeast through southwest facing treeline terrain. Also, numerous small (up to size 1.5) loose avalanches were reported on steep slopes facing the sun.

Looking forward, we expect that human triggered avalanches failing on a buried layer of surface hoar will remain likely for the next few days.

Snowpack Summary

30 to 55 cm of low density snow is settling over a layer of surface hoar buried at the end of January. In some parts of the region, alpine and treeline wind has formed deeper, denser deposits of snow in leeward terrain, and potentially scoured some windward ridgetops.

The buried surface hoar has been reported to be as large as 20 mm. On shaded slopes it's sitting on 10 to 20 cm of loose, sugary facets, but on sunny slopes it's sitting on a thin, hard crust.

This layer has been the culprit for many natural and human-triggered avalanches this week, and is not expected to break down and bond anytime soon.

The lower snowpack is strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Clear. 10 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.

Friday

Sunny. 15 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.

Saturday

Partly cloudy with up to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 15 km/h SW ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Sunday

Sunny. 5 to 15 km/h NW wind. Treeline temperature -17 °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.
  • Be aware of the potential for remote triggering and large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
  • Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.

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.