Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 6th, 2024 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Persistent Slabs.
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Avalanche Canada
Evaluate terrain carefully. Steep open slopes may have a buried weak layer capable of producing large avalanches.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
Reports from this region have been limited. A size 1 human-triggered wind slab was reported on an east aspect on Monday, and an explosive-triggered size 1.5 storm slab occurred on Saturday. However, neighboring regions have reported numerous large to very large natural and human-triggered persistent slab avalanches. Although not as large or likely in this region, triggering persistent slabs is still a concern.
Snowpack Summary
Surface conditions include a dusting of soft snow, sun crust on south aspects, and wind-affected snow in the alpine.
A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried roughly 40 to 80 cm deep, possibly with a weak layer of facets above it. In neighbouring regions, this layer has produced many large and concerning avalanches over the past week.
The snowpack below this crust is strong and bonded.
Weather Summary
Wednesday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Thursday
Sunny. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Uncertainty is best managed through conservative terrain choices at this time.
- Choose slopes that are well supported and have limited consequence.
- Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
- Persistent slabs have potential to pull back to lower angle terrain.
Problems
Persistent Slabs
We are uncertain about this problem. A deeply buried layer of facets on a crust is producing large scary avalanches across the province. It is 40 to 80 cm deep in this region, and potentially triggerable on steep slopes at treeline and above.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 7th, 2024 4:00PM
