Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
The drought continues with yet another beautiful day of blue skies and cold temperatures. While ski conditions may be marginal at treeline and below, climbing conditions are excellent for both ice and big alpine ascents. Get it while you can.
Weather Forecast
A NW flow aloft continues to keep the region under the influence of cold air, although gradual warming is underway for the weekend. Expect a high on Thursday of -5, with a weak system crossing the area starting that night. With any luck we will see 5 cm of snow on Friday.
Snowpack Summary
Despite the presence of weak facets and depth hoar near the ground, the weak layers in the snowpack are largely dormant right now. This is a result of past warming and rain, combined with current cold temperatures and no significant snow for several weeks. Once the temperatures warm up and/or new snow arrives then the weak layers will re-activate.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported or observed today.
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.