Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 4th, 2025–Apr 5th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

Good skiing is out there on the northern aspects. Plan to be away from any sun exposed slope by midday day as we're expecting another sunny day with strong solar input. Ratings reflect the warmest time of day.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new today as of 2pm.

Snowpack Summary

Sunny, low elevation areas had moist snow by 1pm. Anything shady, or high elevation still has dry snow with the Mar crust down 20cm on average. We still haven't seen any wind transport, which is making for good skiing on polar aspects.

Weather Summary

Overnight low of -13, above 0° by noon and 3° by 4pm. Clear blue skies and no wind. Sounds like a late April Fools joke, but it's true.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid shallow snowpack areas, rocky outcrops, and steep terrain where triggering is most likely.
Avoid exposure to overhead hazards when solar radiation is strong.
Limit exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.

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.

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.