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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 27th, 2026–Feb 28th, 2026

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Dangerous slabs may persist after recent storms.

Choose conservative routes with simple, low-angle terrain and no overhead hazard.

Avoid sunny slopes if the surface is moist.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.
  • We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Avalanche Summary

Several size 1-1.5 wind slabs were triggered by people on Thursday, including remotely. These were failing on a touchy layer of surface hoar under the recent storm snow.

On Tuesday, a fatal, human-triggered (size 3.5) wind slab was triggered on a wind-loaded, northeast slope in the alpine. (See MIN post here) Several smaller human-triggered slabs (up to size 1.5) also occurred at alpine and treeline elevations.

Snowpack Summary

Strong to extreme southerly winds have redistributed around 20 to 40 cm of recent snow, creating widespread wind effect and building reactive wind slabs on lee slopes. The recent snow sits on a variety of old snow surfaces, including surface hoar, crusts, and facets. Expect the potential for a poor bond at the storm snow interface.

Around 60 to 100 cm is sitting over a persistent weak layer of facets and crust from early February.

The snowpack below appears to be strong and well-bonded.

Weather Summary

Friday Night
Partly cloudy. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level falling to 500 m.

Saturday
Sunny. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.

Sunday
Sunny. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level rising to 2300 m.

Monday
Mostly sunny. 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.


More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Recent strong wind means wind slabs may be found farther downslope than expected.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

Problems

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.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.