Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Esplanade, Goat, Gold, Jordan, North Columbia, North Selkirk, Retallack, South Columbia, West Purcell, Whatshan.
Choose conservative, low consequence terrain.
Rider and remote triggering of large avalanches are an ongoing concern.
If triggered, avalanches could run full path.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
We received a report of a skier triggered size 3 persistent slab avalanche. This avalanche was triggered on a southeast aspect at 2300 m .
A natural cornice fall triggered a size 3.5 persistent slab avalanche on a northwest aspect at 2700 m on Sunday.
Both of the above mentioned avalanches ran on the early February crust/facet layer. This is part of a pattern of ongoing natural, rider and remotely triggered avalanches on this layer.
Snowpack Summary
Strong winds have formed wind slab on northerly aspects. The snow surface will likely become moist at lower elevations.
Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack. One from late February and the other from early March.
A thick and hard widespread crust that formed in early February is buried about 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas.
The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.
Weather Summary
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h south alpine wind. Treeline temperature -4°C.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 15 to 30 km/h southwest alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 1600 m.
Wednesday
Clearing throughout the day with trace amounts of new snow. 10 to 20 km/h west alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.
Thursday
Sunny. 15 to 30 km/h west alpine wind. Freezing level rising to 2200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Conservative terrain selection is critical, choose only well supported, low consequence lines.
- Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
- Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
- Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers resulting in very large avalanches.
- Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
Avalanche Problems
Persistent Slabs
A weak layer of faceted grains above a crust buried 70 to 140 cm deep is a recipe for large, high-consequence avalanches. Remote triggering is an ongoing concern and means the layer is still primed for human triggering.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 2 - 3
Storm Slabs
Storm slabs may release on weak layers from late Febuary and early March resulting in larger avalanches. There is also concern for these avalanches stepping all the way down to the early Febuary layer.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5