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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 12th, 2025–Dec 13th, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Wind slabs could step down to deeper persistent weak layers.

Start with conservative terrain and gather information before committing to slopes.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, several size 2-2.5 explosive-triggered slabs occurred in the Duffey area. They were suspected of having stepped down to the mid-November persistent weak layer.

On Tuesday, a deep and large slab (size 2.5-3) was observed on Matier’s East Ridge. (See photo below) This slab was also suspected of having failed on the persistent weak layer.

Observations in the aea are very limited. Please consider sharing your observations on the MIN.

Snowpack Summary

In the alpine, strong southerly winds scoured windward slopes, while building slabs in leeward and crossloaded terrain. A surface crust may be present up to 1800 m.

Several layers, including surface hoar, facets, and a thin crust, can be found 40 to 65 cm below the surface.

A crust with facets, formed in early November, is buried 50 to 100 cm at alpine and treeline elevations. This persistent weak layer has been the failure plane of several recent large avalanches in the region.

Snowpack height averages around 100 cm at treeline and decreases rapidly below 1500 m.

Weather Summary

Friday Night
Cloudy. 1 to 5 cm of snow at treeline. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 2 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level rising to 2200 m.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 25 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 30 mm of rain at treeline. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
  • Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind-loaded snow.

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.