Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Travel is easy, and while the ski quality has suffered from the recent winds, it is a great time for an alpine tour. There are still places where you could trigger an avalanche on the buried facets so use caution when entering steep alpine terrain.
Weather Forecast
The high pressure system remains entrenched over the Rocky Mountains with no snow for the next week. The temperature inversion remains and strengthens through the beginning of next week with very high freezing levels forecasted for Monday and Tuesday. Winds remain in the moderate range out of the West for the next few days.
Snowpack Summary
Extensive wind effect at treeline and above. Sun crusts are present on some steep south facing slopes. Surface hoar up to 25mm has formed below 2200m. 15-40 cm of snow lies over the Nov 27th and Nov 23rd crusts. Both of these now overlie the Halloween crust/facet layer that sits 30-50cm above the ground.
Avalanche Summary
In the last 24 hours only a few very small loose wet avalanches in the alpine were observed. These were in steep rocky terrain that was in the sun, and sheltered from the wind. Where observed, these did not triggered any deeper weaknesses.
Confidence
Freezing levels are uncertain on Monday
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.