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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 12th, 2025–Jan 13th, 2025

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

Badshot-Battle, Goat, Kokanee, Retallack.

It's uncertain which slopes have a persistent problem. Manage it by choosing conservative terrain free from terrain traps.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday, several small wind slabs were triggered by riders. Some of them failing on buried surface hoar 30 cm deep.

On Friday, several small (up to size 1.5) natural and human-triggered wind slab and dry loose avalanches were reported. A few large (up to size 2.5) natural avalanches were also reported in extreme alpine terrain.

No avalanches have been reported on the early December persistent weak layer since January 6, northwest of Kaslo.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 20 to 30 cm of soft snow in sheltered areas, and wind slabs below exposed alpine and treeline ridges.

Below the recent snow, there are potentially a couple different layers of large, feathery surface hoar crystals. They may be resting on a crust on slopes that face the sun.

A widespread surface hoar/facet/crust layer from early December is buried 70 to 120 cm. This layer is trending to unreactive in much of the region, but it's not fully healed. It was most recently active south of Trout Lake and east of Slocan Lake on north through east-facing slopes between 1700 and 2300 m.

At treeline, snow depths range from 135 to 200 cm.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Monday

A mix of sun and clouds. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday

Sunny. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
  • Pay attention to isolated wind affected features in the alpine, as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.

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.

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.