Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Jasper, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.
Deep persistent slabs remain the primary avalanche concern.
Better skiing conditions and a more supportive snowpack can be found in the alpine on solar aspects.
Be mindful of thick to thin transitions within the snowpack where deeper instabilities are more likely to be triggered.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
The local ski hill reported triggering of the deep persistent slab during control work. No other recent avalanche activity observed since December 27 when a size 1 and size 2 were observed in steep, rocky terrain.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack is mostly made up of facets and ranges in depth from 60 to 120 cm at treeline and above. At the bottom of the snowpack there are multiple early season crusts with facets above and below.
Weather Summary
Mainly cloudy skies with a trace to 5 cm of snow, light to moderate winds out of the NW, and a cooling trend, is expected between now and Wednesday.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
- Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
Avalanche Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
A variety of crusts with facets above and below exist at the bottom of the snowpack. These layers are going to be with us for a long time and pose a low probability, high consequence situation if triggered.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Wind Slabs
Avoid wind loaded unsupported terrain.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2