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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 8th, 2025–Feb 9th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Glacier.

The windslab problem in the alpine has been refreshed by a switch back to moderate southerly winds.

Carefully evaluate wind affected slopes before committing.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Natural avalanche activity has eased, however human triggering remains possible.

Neighboring operations are reporting rider & remote triggered avalanches on the Jan 30th layer.

A sz 2 wind slab was triggered by a skier part way down Forever Young Feb 3rd, resulting in injuries.

A sz 1.5 wind slab on the Ravens was observed while flying to the above accident.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate southerly winds today are creating a fresh windslab in the alpine. Variable winds this past week had caused widespread wind effect, which is starting to facet out (become soft and sugary)

Last week, 40cm of storm snow buried a weak layer of surface hoar, facets and/or suncrust (Jan 30th drought layer).

The Jan 7th layer is down 50-80cm, comprised of surface hoar in sheltered areas and/or a thin crust on steep S aspects.

The basal snowpack is dense and strong.

Weather Summary

A few flurries will linger on Sunday. The arctic ridge will rebuild Sunday night and remain strong into the foreseeable future.

Tonight Clear with cloudy periods. Alpine low -21°C. Ridge wind West 15km/hr.

Sun Cloud & sun with isolated flurries. Alp high -19°C. NW wind 15-25km/hr.

Mon Sunny. Alpine high -19°C. Light NE winds.

Tues Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine high -17°C. NW wind 15-25km/h.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for remote triggering and large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.