Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Jasper, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.
Recent snowfall sits over a deteriorating, and now breakable, crust.
Continue to use caution on larger slopes in the alpine or at treeline as our persistent problems remain.... persistent.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche activity has been observed or reported on the Icefields Parkway or Maligne Lake Road since Friday.
A period of warm temperatures at the end of January caused a widespread avalanche cycle with numerous natural avalanches at all elevations up to size 3.5.
Snowpack Summary
6 cm of recent snow sits over a 1-3cm breakable crust. This crust becomes weaker as you gain elevation and will only support the weight of a skier or snowboarder on due south aspects.
Persistent weak layers formed in early January are down 20-30cm. This layer has been reactive in snowpit tests with moderate Extended Column results propagating across the entire column. Bottom of the snowpack is made up of well-developed facets & depth hoar creating our deep persistent problem
Weather Summary
The Mountain Weather Forecast is available at Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
Tuesday Cloudy with scattered flurries. Accumulation: 2-5 cm. High -3. Wind SW 10-25 km/h. Freezing level 1800m
Wednesday Sun/cloud & isolated flurries. No precipitation. Freezing level valley bottom.
Thursday Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Trace precipitation. West wind10-20 km/h.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid shallow snowpack areas, rock outcroppings and steep convex terrain where triggering is most likely.
- This avalanche problem is difficult to trigger but if so, consequences are serious.
Avalanche Problems
Persistent Slabs
Our recent re freeze was not strong enough to heal our persistent slab problem. This weak layer, buried 20-40cm deep, is still reactive in snowpit tests and human triggering remains possible, particularly in shallow rocky start zones.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Deep Persistent Slabs
The base of the snowpack is inherently weak and untrustworthy. Human and natural triggering of these basal facets remains possible.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3