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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 12th, 2025–Feb 13th, 2025

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.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Cold weather continues to dominate the weather and decision making this week. Avalanche conditions are slow to change under such cold temperatures, but we continue to get reports of wind effects and occasional wind slabs in alpine areas. The snowpack in Little Yoho is deeper than further east and the ski quality here has been better.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were observed or reported on Wednesday.

However, on Tuesday in the adjacent region of BYK, we investigated the Quartz skier accidental avalanche near Sunshine Village, where the start zone was 48° and the failure plane was an old layer of weak facets down 50 cm. The avalanche was triggered from a very shallow, faceted location and the crack propagated into the thicker snowpack nearby and released the avalanche. This is a classic avalanche release pattern.

Snowpack Summary

25-30cm of settled snow from last week has been redistributed by the wind in exposed locations, burying the Jan 30 weak layer. The mid and lower snowpack is well settled, with tree-line snow depths ranging from 120 cm to 180 cm.

Weather Summary

The Arctic ridge of high pressure continues to dominate the region and we can expect mostly clear skies (a few clouds), very cold temperatures (highs -15, lows -25), no new snow and light winds from the north. This pattern shows no sign of breaking down until a slight change on the weekend.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Wind slabs are isolated, but may remain reactive.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.

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.