Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
The snowpack remains touchy with potential for triggering large destructive avalanches in most of the forecast region. Be patient and stick to conservative terrain. Watch for the effects of daytime heating on cornices and steep solar slopes as well.
Weather Forecast
Alpine temperatures between -4`C and -14`C with occasional light flurries and a few sunny breaks are forecast for the next couple days. Winds will be light out of the West. Solar aspects will see temperatures climb quickly when the sun comes out.
Snowpack Summary
15cm of new snow overnight which seems to be bonding well with the previous surfaces. The Feb.10th facet layer is down 80-120cm and is still showing easy to moderate test results in thinner snowpack areas, and harder results in deeper snowpack areas. Areas with buried sun crust are especially touchy.
Avalanche Summary
Several new natural avalanches up to size 3 were observed today in the Lake Louise area failing on the Feb 10th layer, as well as a cornice triggered size 2. A skier remote size 3 was triggered today from 800m away on the SW aspect of Mt Daly while descending to Sherbrooke Lake. This was also likely on the Feb 10th layer. Things are still touchy!
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.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.