Avalanche Forecast

A couple small cornices failed naturally near Fernie in the past couple days.

On Tuesday, several small, loose wet avalanches were rider-triggered on sunny slopes.

20 to 40 cm of new snow overlies a crust formed in mid March on all aspects except higher elevation north facing terrain where surface hoar may be present. The snow surface will become moist at lower elevations.

Numerous sun crusts exist in the upper snowpack on east through west aspects.

A widespread crust with facets above is buried up to 180 cm deep. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the places where it may still be possible to trigger this layer.

Thursday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of new snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -4°C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 1600 m.

Saturday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h west alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Sunday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 30 km/h north alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Don't be too cavalier with decision making, storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
• Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
• Minimize your exposure time below cornices.