Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 21st, 2025–Mar 22nd, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus.

Continue to choose conservative, low consequence terrain. Human-triggered avalanches remain likely at higher elevaitons.

Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, explosives control and storm slab avalanches up to size 2. Numerous human-triggered dry loose and storm slab avalanches were reported up to size 1.5.

Thanks for sharing your observations via the MIN if you are going out into the backcountry.

Snowpack Summary

15 to 30 cm of new snow brings recent storm snow totals up to 50 cm. Moderate to strong southwest winds have redistributed storm snow into deeper deposits on north and east aspects. This overlies wind-affected at upper elevations and moist, heavy snow or a melt-freeze crust on southerly slopes, especially at lower elevations.

A weak layer formed in early March found down 100 to 180 cm, consists of a crust on all aspects except high north-facing slopes. In some areas, a layer of surface hoar is found just above the crust.

Weak layers formed in mid-February and late January are now buried 150 to 250 cm deep.

Below this, the snowpack is well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy with light flurries, 1 to 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 25 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

Saturday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Overnight flurries bring 5 to 15 cm of snow.

Sunday

Cloudy with precipitation switching from snow to rain, 15 to 40 mm of mixed precipitation. 50 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Precipitation continues overnight, 20 to 60 mm of mixed precipitation forms.

Monday

Cloudy with light flurries, 2 mm of rain. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Keep your guard up as storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
Even brief periods of direct sun could produce natural avalanches.
Seek out wind sheltered terrain below treeline where you can avoid wind slabs and find great riding.
Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.