Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Lots of wind effect out there, but good skiing can still be found in sheltered locations. Bundle up and remember to bring an extra layer in case something goes wrong and you have to wait around in the cold!
Weather Forecast
Generally benign weather over the next few days with cold overnight lows (-20 to -25) and progressively warmer daytime highs (-5 to -10). We might see a cm or two of new snow on Wednesday overnight but otherwise dry. Alpine winds will be light from the north, switching to SW and increasing to strong on Saturday with the next storm system.
Snowpack Summary
Wind effect, wind slabs and scoured surfaces exist in many alpine and tree-line elevations. Sheltered areas have a soft, facetted surface. The Jan 30th surface hoar/sun crust layer is variable in distribution and reactivity, but is generally 40-60 cm down and producing hard to no results in snowpack tests.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed or reported on Wednesday. Continued observations of the storm slab/ wind slab cycle from last weekend to size 3 from a field trip in the Emerald lake area. One of the larger fracture lines seen was in the alpine on a west aspect on Mt. Field. ~ size 2.5 and likely failing due to windloading on a suncrust.
Confidence
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind slabs exist in the alpine and some tree line locations. They are sitting on a variety of surfaces including old wind effect, surface hoar, sun crusts and facets.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
- Watch for surface cracking and stiffer surface layers of snow.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2