Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Feb 26th, 2019 8:00AM

The alpine rating is low, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Loose Dry and Wind Slabs.

Parks Canada chris gooliaff, Parks Canada

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Soaking up some sun on South-facing slopes is appealing with the cold temp's. Be cautious of sluffing or thin wind slabs on steep southerly terrain.

Summary

Weather Forecast

Cold and clear again. Winds will continue to be light/moderate from the NE, with temp's reaching -15*C in the alpine, and very little cloud cover. Much of the same for Wednesday/Thursday, with some scattered cloud, light NE winds, and cool temp's prevailing.

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of settled, faceted snow resides on old wind slabs in the alpine. N'ly winds have deposited thin wind slabs on SE-SW aspects at ridge-top. A crust on steep solar aspects makes for difficult traveling conditions, both uphill and down. The mid and lower snowpack is well settled and strong. Surface faceting is softening old ski tracks.

Avalanche Summary

Several dry, loose point releases were noted from S-facing alpine ridge-lines yesterday. All were smaller than size one, but had enough mass that they could knock you off your feet if you were in a steep couloir. In the highway corridor, a sz 2 loose avalanche was noted from Macdonald Gully 6.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Dry

An icon showing Loose Dry
Loose sluffs in steep terrain can push a person off their feet. South-facing gullies are receiving small, incremental amounts of loose, dry snow from northerly winds.
Be cautious of sluffing in steep terrain, particularly where the debris flows into terrain traps.On steep slopes, pull over periodically or cut into a new line to manage sluffing.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs
Wind slab in the alpine presently appears to be more of a ski quality issue than an avalanche problem. However given the right location (steep, rocky, thin snowpack feature etc.) it may still be possible to trigger the slab.
Avoid thin, rocky or unsupported slopes.Use caution above cliffs where small avalanches may have severe consequences.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Feb 27th, 2019 8:00AM