Plan for early starts and early finishes.
Summary
Weather Forecast
Check your favorite local weather sites for updated atmospheric conditions.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack summary for April 25th is a temperature crust on steep solar aspects. Sheltered locations may hold 5-15cm of spring powder snow over previous wind surfaces and crusts. Several thick and thin crusts exist in the upper snowpack depending on aspect, elevation, and angle. The middle of the snowpack is supportive and well consolidated.
Avalanche Summary
Maligne and Icefield's patrol on April 25th observed several loose wet avalanches up to size 1.5 mainly solar triggered. Consult the Mountain Information Network for recent observations, and please consider submitting a MIN report .
Confidence
Problems
Loose Wet
This problem can range from unreactive to touchy depending on a cornucopia of changing daily weather conditions. Watch this problem increase during the day as temperatures rise and solar input occurs. A small initiation can quickly gain momentum.
- Use extra caution on solar slopes or if the snow is moist or wet.
- Watch for clues, like sluffing off of cliffs, that the snowpack is warming up.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West, West.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Cornices
Cornices are large and menacing. Variable Spring conditions can make them solid one moment and fragile the next. Always a good idea to avoid them. Consider them large triggers on the slopes below and inherently dangerous by their mass.
- Avoid travel on slopes that are exposed to cornices overhead.
- Cornices become weak with daytime heating, so travel early on exposed slopes.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West, West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Apr 26th, 2022 4:00PM
