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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 8th, 2025–Jan 9th, 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 unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

Recent strong winds out of the SW have scoured snow from some areas and deposited windslab in others. Pay attention to the texture of the surface snow and avoid steep terrain with wind effect.

Ice climbers: gully avalanches may run further than expected given the dry, sugary snow in all the avalanche paths.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Local ski hills were reporting small windslabs 10-15 cm deep that were failing with explosives in alpine and isolated treeline terrain.

In Yoho, a natural size 2 ran to the bottom of the runout in one of the avalanche paths between Carlsberg and Guinness.

Snowpack Summary

A few cm of new snow and a lot of wind has created windslabs in the alpine and at treeline. These sit on a layer of facets and surface hoar that may or may not become a bad sliding surface. The middle and bottom of the snowpack are weak, with depth hoar and facets near the ground. An average of 60-100cm of snow can be found at treeline elevations.

Weather Summary

We are in a period of active weather, although not much snow is forecast. Thursday should be mostly sunny with moderate to strong NW ridgetop winds. Friday into Saturday we should see a few centimetres of snow with extreme SW winds diminishing throughout the day on Friday. Temperatures will remain cool throughout the period.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.

Problems

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.

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.