Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Jan 8 – 9, 2026Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

There has been a fair amount of wind over the last week but good skiing remains in sheltered areas.

Watch out for windslabs and be on the lookout for buried surface hoar which may be found in some areas underneath the recent snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–2

    30-40 cm of storm snow over the last several days, combined with consistent moderate winds are creating generally small windslabs in exposed alpine and treeline areas.

    In some areas, this windloaded snow may overly buried surface hoar which could make this problem more reactive.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1.5–3.5

    A layer of facets near the ground remains well established. In deep snowpack areas (western side), we have minimal concerns; our concern is mainly on the east side of the forecast area and especially in thin-to-thick snowpack transitions, where large, deep avalanches remain possible.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Approach steep and open slopes at and below treeline cautiously, as buried surface hoar may exist.
  • Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Uncertainty is due to the fact that deep persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

Avalanche Summary

LL ski hill reported touchy soft slabs 15-30 cm deep in alpine and treeline terrain on Wednesday. These were predictable and generally small but were triggered easily with wide propagations.

Sunshine triggered several soft slabs up to size 1.5 in west aspect treeline terrain. These were failing on a layer of surface hoar 20 cm deep in areas without much wind effect. So far, reactivity on this layer has been isolated to the SSV area so we have not added it as a problem yet.

Snowpack Summary

30-40 cm of storm snow has fallen over the past 4 days with continuous moderate SW winds forming fresh windslabs. In sheltered areas below treeline, this new snow sits on a layer of surface hoar buried on Jan 3, but this layer is not widespread, and not much slab has formed above it yet

There is 40-80 cm over the Dec 15 melt-freeze crust, which is present to 1800-2000 m, and 80-160 cm over the November facet/crust interfaces. In thinner snowpack areas, facets are present at the base

Weather Summary

A weak ridge is moving into the area bringing drier but windy conditions. Expect isolated flurries to continue on Thursday and Friday with total amounts of 5-10cm maximum. Winds will increase overnight Thursday to strong to extreme from the west on Friday and Saturday. Freezing levels are forecast to rise to close to 2000m on Saturday.

Regions covered