Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Feb 23rd, 2020 4:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Parks Canada conrad janzen, Parks Canada

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Continue to avoid freshly wind loaded areas in steep terrain and enjoy the good skiing in sheltered areas. Ice climbers should watch for sluffing in steep gullies as we continue to get small inputs of new snow.

Summary

Weather Forecast

Monday will be cloudy and see a few light flurries with 2-5 cm of new snow accumulation. Alpine temperatures remain cool with highs around -14'C. Light to moderate W and NW winds are expected through the day.

Snowpack Summary

5-15cm of snow in the last 48 hrs with moderate to strong alpine winds Saturday creating fresh wind slabs in lee areas. Isolated buried sun crusts exist on steep solar aspects. The Feb 1 crust is down 20-50cm and present below 1900m. A dense snowpack with no significant weaknesses is present in most areas, but thin rocky areas have a faceted base.

Avalanche Summary

A few natural and skier triggered wind slabs in the alpine up to size 2 have been reported and observed over the last several days. Some sluffing of the new snow in steep terrain has been observed in areas that got the most new snow over the last couple days.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality of field observations

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Recent moderate to strong SW winds have formed wind slabs in lee areas of the alpine with isolated pockets of wind slab down into treeline. Cornices have grown very large in recent weeks, so watch your exposure to them carefully.

  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
  • Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could trigger slabs.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Feb 24th, 2020 4:00PM