Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 26th, 2025 4:00PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is considerable, and the below treeline rating is below threshold. Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.

Avalanche Canada Avalanche Canada, Avalanche Canada

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New snow and wind will build slabs throughout the day.

Keep in mind a buried weak layer exists and there is the potential for large avalanches.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches have been reported since Jan 22nd.

It has been a while since a persistent slab avalanche has been reported, however, with new snow on the way it's possible that large avalanches will occur.

Snowpack Summary

New snow is expected to fall with strong southwest wind, building slabs on lee slopes through the day. Expect lesser amounts of new snow the further east you go.

New snow falls on a heavily wind-modified surface with some soft snow remaining in sheltered spots.

A weak layer of facets and a crust from early December is buried 80 to 140 cm deep. This layer exists on all aspects up to around 1700 m and produced large avalanches last weekend.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 50 to 80 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly clear skies. 10 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Strong wind and new snow will build slabs in lee terrain features throughout the day.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, North West.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

1 - 2.5

Persistent Slabs

An icon showing Persistent Slabs

The early December weak layer continues to be triggerable in shallow, thin-to-thick areas or with large loads like a cornice or avalanche.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

2 - 3.5

Valid until: Jan 27th, 2025 4:00PM

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