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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 1st, 2025–Jan 2nd, 2025

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

Regions

South Columbia, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Kokanee, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

A dangerous weak layer is deep in the snowpack.

While it is improving, investigate if it's a problem in your area before committing to large terrain features.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Large persistent slab avalanches continue to occur sporadically on the weak layer buried in early December. This problem is starting to improve but deserves patience and continued vigilance.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 20 to 50 cm of settling snow in sheltered areas and wind slabs on lee slopes. On sun-affected slopes, soft snow covers a melt-freeze crust.

A concerning layer of facets, crusts, and/or surface hoar is buried 60 to 110 cm. It will most likely be a problem on north through east aspects between 1700 and 2300 m.

Treeline snow depths range from 100 to 180 cm.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with up to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with up to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • In times of uncertainty, conservative terrain choices are our best defense.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.

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.