Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 25th, 2024–Mar 26th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Jasper, Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.

Ski quality is good where you can find the 10-20cm of dry surface snow over the generally supportive crust. Avoid thick to thin locations as being the potential trigger spots. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Sunday's Maligne patrol noted no new activity. A group of 7 skiers on Sunday at Icefield's Boundary peak area remote triggered a size 2 slab from 100m away. The avalanche occurred in a thin rocky spot, alpine, N aspect, 2250m elevation, 35 degree slope, and slid on the Feb 3rd layer. The group triggered it from the bench above. A few other size 2's were noted over the weekend from Bow Summit area.

Snowpack Summary

A thin sun crust is present on steep solar slopes at all elevations. Elsewhere has about 10cm of soft snow on top of a 2-10cm melt freeze crust. The Feb 3rd crust interface is down 35-60cm. Basal depth hoar and Facets make up the bottom of the snowpack. HS ranges from 50 to 150cm.

Weather Summary

Mountain Weather Forecast is available @ Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

Monday night will be clear and a good freeze at -9 °C. Expect Tuesday to bring flurries, -5 °C, and 1600 metres freezing level. Flurries, 6cm of snow and or rain at lower elevations, and freezing level of 1600 metres is forecasted for Wednesday and Thursday.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Even a small avalanche can be harmful if it pushes you into an obstacle or a terrain trap.
Avoid steep slopes when air temperatures are warm, or solar radiation is strong.

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.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.