Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast

Sunday night: Partly cloudy. Light northwest wind, blowing strong above 2500 m. Alpine low around -10 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Monday: Partly cloudy. Moderate northwest wind. Alpine high around -4 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m. 

Tuesday: Flurries up to 10 cm along the western border, less than 5 cm elsewhere. Light easterly wind. Alpine temperatures around -15 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light easterly wind. Alpine temperatures around -18 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

On Saturday near Golden, a naturally triggered size 2 slab avalanche was reported in an open feature around treeline on an east aspect. More details here. West of Invermere, several dry loose avalanches to size 1.5 were reported out of steep, alpine terrain. In the west of the region, a solar triggered size 2 storm slab was observed.

On Friday, west of Invermere, a few small, rider triggered storm slab avalanches were reported. A couple failed on a crust on a southwest aspect in the alpine, and the larger two were below treeline on a northwest aspect. Also, near Golden, numerous, small, natural and rider triggered loose dry avalanches were reported, and a size 1.5 avalanche was remotely triggered by a rider in the backcountry near Kicking Horse. More details here.

South of Golden, evidence of a widespread. loose dry and storm slab avalanche cycle during the recent storm up to size 2 was reported. Additionally, avalanche control using large explosives produced several large to very large avalanches, mostly on northerly aspects in the alpine, including one size 3.5 with a crown 60-200 cm deep that is suspected to have failed on a persistent weak layer.  

Recent, low density snow may see some redistribution in the alpine as winds pick up on Monday. A few crusts may be found in and amongst the 30-60 cm of recent snow including a sun crust at the surface on solar aspects and an embedded melt freeze crust up to 1700 m on all aspects. The recent snow may also be sitting on an older sun crust on solar aspects, as well as weak surface hoar and faceted crystals on shaded aspects.

An interface from mid-February is likely now down 40-60 cm. This layer was previously only reactive in wind-loaded terrain where a slab had formed but may become more problematic if covered with a more widespread cohesive slab.

Below that on sheltered north aspects, there is still a surface hoar layer being tracked that was formed in late January. Though there haven't been reports of recent avalanches on this layer in this region, it is still on the radar of many operations.

• Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
• If you are increasing your exposure to avalanche terrain, do it gradually as you gather information.
• Investigate the bond of the recent snow
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.