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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 6th, 2025–Mar 7th, 2025

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

The more solar input and warming that occurs, the more the hazard will increase. Avoid areas with a shallow snowpack.

Mt. Bourgeau and Eagle Mountain avalanche closure zones are CLOSED on Friday, March 7th, 2025.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

LL ski hill was reporting several solar triggered dry loose and a few small explosives triggered windslabs in steep alpine terrain. These were soft and isolated and mostly running as loose dry avalanches.

No other avalanches were observed or reported on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

On the surface, low density snow exists on shaded aspects and crusts / moist snow on solar aspects. A persistent weak layer of facets (Feb. 22nd /Jan 30th layer) exists 20-50cm below the surface. Below this, the snowpack consists of a faceted mid-pack with basal facets at the bottom. The snowpack is variable in strength and depth depending on location, with average treeline snow depths ranging from ~ 75 cm in the east to ~150cm + in the west.

Weather Summary

Friday will be another clear day, starting cold with freezing levels rising to ~ 1600m in the afternoon. Mountain top winds will pick up to moderate to strong from the W/NW.

A system is approaching on Saturday that will bring some snow by midday. We are expecting ~ 5 cm on Saturday and another ~ 10-20 cm on Sunday with valley bottom freezing levels and strong to extreme SW winds.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Loose avalanches may start small, but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • Keep in mind that human triggering may persist as natural avalanches taper off.

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.

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.