Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 14th, 2025–Jan 15th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Badshot-Battle, Goat, Kokanee, Retallack.

Avalanche reports point to a surface hoar layer that may keep wind slabs reactive longer than usual. Sporadic deeper releases mean terrain choices should stay on the conservative side.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, there were several small rider-triggered wind slabs on east to southeast aspects at treeline. Check out this MIN report for a good sample of the issue.

No avalanches have been reported on the early December persistent weak layer since January 6, northwest of Kaslo. However, whumpfs have been reported, which could be this layer.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 20 to 30 cm of soft snow in sheltered areas, and wind slabs below exposed alpine and treeline ridges.

Below the recent snow, there are potentially a couple different layers of large, feathery surface hoar crystals. They may be resting on a crust on slopes that face the sun.

A widespread surface hoar/facet/crust layer from early December is buried 70 to 120 cm. This layer is trending to unreactive in much of the region, but it's not fully healed. It was most recently active south of Trout Lake and east of Slocan Lake on north through east-facing slopes between 1700 and 2300 m.

At treeline, snow depths range from 135 to 200 cm.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

Cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. An above freezing layer lingering between 1700 and 2500 m.

Wednesday

Mainly sunny. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, increasing. Above freezing layer lingering between 1700 and 2500 m. Treeline temperature around 0 °C.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud with scattered flurries bringing 1 to 5 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Above freezing layer breaking down and treeline temperature falling to -5 °C.

Friday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature falling to -8 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
Pay attention to isolated wind affected features in the alpine, as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.