Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
The hazard has decreased but forecaster confidence is limited. Be very cautious about route options and remain aware of your surroundings as you travel. Ski quality is rugged especially below treeline. Ice climbing conditons are awesome!
Weather Forecast
Winds will be westerly and moderate beginning this evening with light snowfall. FL's up to 1500 meters tonight. Through the weekend the flow will shift to NW aloft and then back westerly again on Sunday with light precipitation amounts and a cooling trend going into the beginning of next week
Snowpack Summary
Last weekend's big warming of the snowpack and the recent freezing has strengthened the upper and mid section of the snowpack. However, it is important to remember that n the shallower eastern regions of the continental divide the snow pack still has rotten basal facets so caution is still advised when considering more aggressive terrain.
Avalanche Summary
There has been very little natural activity in the past few days with the exception of some size 2 explosive results yesterday in Lake Louise. Human triggered avalanches are still possible and cautious terrain selection is still strongly advised in spite of the Low rating.
Confidence
Due to the quality of field observations on Saturday
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.