Avalanche Forecast

Good - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

Synopsis: The next strong front is forecast to move across the province on Sunday before a ridge of high pressure builds that looks to last for several days. Saturday: Snow starting in the evening with accumulations of up to 20cm around Kootenay Pass, moderate south westerly winds and freezing level at valley bottom. Sunday: Cloudy with flurries and moderate westerly winds. Monday: Mainly cloud with moderate westerly winds.

Several small avalanches were reported to have released in windload features on Friday. Recent avalanche reports have described large avalanches ranging from size 2.5 to 3 releasing on persistent weak layers deep in the snowpack. Several of these avalanche were remotely triggered by ski touring groups from distances as far as 100m.

Friday's snowfall buried a layer of large surface hoar or facets. In many places these week crystals sit above a thin crust which can be found up to about 1900m on north aspects and all the way to ridgeline on south aspects. While this layer is developing our main concern continues to be deeper crust/surface hoar combo buried in mid-December. This weak layer can be found 60-120cm down and still has the potential to be triggered by people. Near the base of the snowpack the facet/crust layer from November has mostly been dormant, however, isolated recent activity in the Bonnington Range suggests that this layer may still be reactive in isolated terrain.