Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 1st, 2025–Feb 2nd, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

Storm slabs sit over a weak layer and may be easily triggerable by riders.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday and Saturday, natural and skier-triggered storm slabs up to size 1.5 were reported on west to northeast aspects near treeline.

Snowpack Summary

30 to 50 cm of new snow has accumulated since Thursday night. Near ridgetops, southwest wind has loaded the recent snow into leeward terrain features. The recent snow is not expected to bond well to underlying surfaces including a hard crust in most areas, or facets and/or surface hoar on high north aspects.

The mid and lower snowpack is well-settled and dense with no layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -8 °C.

Monday

Cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -10 °C.

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.
Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.
Use small, low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.

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.