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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 12th, 2024–Feb 13th, 2024

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

Regions

Glacier.

Pockets of weak, faceted snow linger along Alpine ridge-crests this year. Adjust your expectations, sharpen your route-finding skills, and lower your risk tolerance to avoid a ride in a slide.

Below Tree-line, travel remains difficult with rocks, stumps, and icy pee-covered trails.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Loose, dry sluffing to sz 1 was observed off Mts Tupper and Macdonald (steep Alpine terrain) today, especially when the sun poked out and heated up the slopes.

Isolated slab avalanches (Avalanche Mtn last week, Sapphire Col on Saturday) continue to surprise folks from shallow snowpack areas in the Alpine. Thin snowpack areas, which in normal years have over 3m of snow by now, need to be treated with more caution this year.

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of loose, dry snow covers surface hoar on protected lee aspects and, on steep S-facing slopes, a breakable surface crust.

Below 2500m on all aspects is the robust and supportive Feb 3rd crust with 20-40cm of recent low density snow over it.

Below Tree-line expect firm crusts, widespread frozen avalanche debris, and shallow snowpack hazards.

Warm temperatures have rounded and strengthened the mid and lower snowpack.

Weather Summary

The Arctic Ridge pushes into the region this week, dropping temps and clearing the skies.

Tonight: Cloud with flurries, trace amounts, Alp low -11°C, light W winds, freezing level (FZL) valley bottom.

Tues: Mix of sun & cloud, Alp high -12°C, light to moderate N winds, FZL 600m.

Wed: Sunny, Alp high -13°C, light E winds, FZL valley bottom.

Thurs: Sunny, Alp high -9°C, light E winds, FZL valley bottom.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be carefull 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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.