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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 12th, 2026–Apr 13th, 2026

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

South Rockies, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

Persistent buried layers in the alpine remain uncertain

Steer clear of large cornices and steep, rocky alpine start zones.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how persistent slabs will react to the forecast weather.
  • We are uncertain due to a limited number of field observations.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported in the last 3 days.

On Wednesday, our team reported a size 2.5 persistent slab on Window Mountain, likely triggered by a cornice fall on Tuesday (see photo below). Another large avalanche was observed on Saturday, likely on the same buried weak layer.

Observations from this region are currently limited. Please consider submitting a MIN to let us know what you're seeing out there.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Partly cloudy. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2100 m.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 1 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 2200 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 5 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
  • In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and slopes above cliffs.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.