Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff, Banff Yoho Kootenay, East Side 93N, Field, Kootenay, LLSA, Lake Louise, Little Yoho, Sunshine, West Side 93N.
Early-season conditions prevail in the high mountains. Watch out for small wind slabs in the alpine, as they can have serious consequences if you are hit in steep or exposed terrain.
Confidence
Low
Avalanche Summary
Although most areas are below threshold for avalanches, there have been reports of small windslabs and loose dry avalanches from steep windloaded alpine terrain in the last week.
Snowpack Summary
Early season conditions exist in the high alpine, anywhere from 60-80cm of snow can be expected. This tapers rapidly with elevation, treeline snow depths are in the 15-30cm range.
Weather Summary
Thursday looks to be mainly sunny with winds easing to light from the west. A system is moving in on Friday bringing light snow and increased W winds. Saturday looks to be stormy with ~ 5 cm along the divide, less to the east and strong to extreme SW winds. See the Mountain Weather Forecast for more details.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind or rain.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
We have limited observations so far, but small wind slabs have been reported by ice climbers. New snow and wind may increase the likelihood of encountering and triggering these.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5