Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Although travel in the mountains is great for this time of year, the downhill ski quality is a tad "challenging", especially below treeline. Climbing conditions are excellent. SH
Weather Forecast
The drought continues. We expect little to no snow over the next few days. Moderate Westerly winds in the alpine with temperatures staying below freezing except below treeline where they will creep over the freezing mark in the afternoons.
Snowpack Summary
Despite the presence of weak facets and depth hoar near the ground, the weak layers in the snowpack are largely dormant right now. Once the temperatures warm up significantly and/or new snow arrives then the weak layers may re-activate. Thin melt freeze crust turning to corn in the afternoon below 2000m today in the Stanley headwall area.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported or observed today.
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.