Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Jasper, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.
Fresh snow and a supportive crust (in some places) has improved the skiing.
Look for low angle terrain for the best quality turns, and because the buried weak layers are still untrustworthy.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed or reported in the last couple of days. However, our field team reported widespread whumpfing at tree line and alpine areas on Tuesday in the Icefields area. On Monday, the field team triggered a size 1.5 persistent slab on a south aspect at tree line.
Snowpack Summary
10 - 20 cm of recent snow sits over a variable, breakable crust. This crust is 1-3cm thick on shaded aspects, and up to a 15-20cm thick on solar aspects. Big, connected, and sunny tree line features are the most troublesome. Persistent and deep persistent weak layers remain ever-present and active. Do not trust either of these layers.
Weather Summary
Saturday:
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries.
Precipitation: Trace.
Alpine temperature: High -5 °C.
Ridge wind southwest: 10 km/h.
Freezing level: 1600 metres.
The Mountain Weather Forecast is available at Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid shallow snowpack areas, rock outcroppings and steep convex terrain where triggering is most likely.
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Moderate to strong winds from the west and northwest have formed new wind slabs in leeward features in the alpine.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5
Persistent Slabs
Our recent melt-freeze cycle 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 - 2.5
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 - 3