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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 24th, 2024–Jan 25th, 2024

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

Regions

Purcells, East Purcell, Bull.

Don't let tracks on a slope lure you into bigger terrain.

This problem is best managed with patience.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No reports from Wednesday at the time of publishing.

On Tuesday there were two skier-triggered deep persistent avalanches (size 1.5-2) west of Invermere in shallow areas. Both times there were tracks on the slope and the skier who triggered it was caught, buried, and recovered uninjured. (one partial burial, one full)

Several small, dry loose natural avalanches occurred on south aspects.

On Monday, three size 2 avalanches were triggered by skiers west of Invermere.

Snowpack Summary

Recent snow continues to settle and bond. This new snow is sitting atop old wind-affected snow and weak, faceted grains.

The mid-snowpack is generally made up of faceted snow and various old crusts.

At the base of the snowpack, weak faceted grains and depth hoar are present, particularly in alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy with a trace of new snow, southwest alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with a trace of new snow, west alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud with a trace of new snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with a trace of new snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.