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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 1st, 2023–Jan 2nd, 2023

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, South Okanagan, Ymir, Moyie, St. Mary.

The snowpack remains spooky. Conservative terrain choices are strongly recommended.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Riders triggered numerous avalanches within the recent storm snow on Saturday, most being about 40 cm deep and at treeline to alpine elevations.

A natural avalanche cycle occurred between December 26 and 28th that included large and very large (size 2 to 3) storm slab and persistent slab avalanches. Most avalanches have released between 1800 and 2200 m. Although persistent slab avalanche activity has quieted in the past few days, riders could still trigger them.

Snowpack Summary

Around 30 to 40 cm of snow overlies a hard melt-freeze crust that extends up to 2000 m. Moist snow or a surface crust may be found below treeline and on steep sun-exposed slopes to ridgetop.

Buried weak layers continue to show signs of instability. The two prominent layers of concern are a 60 to 80 cm deep layer of surface hoar and a crust on south aspects that was buried in mid-December and an 80 to 150 cm deep layer of surface hoar and facets that was buried in mid-November.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with trace precipitation, 10 km/h west wind, treeline temperature -7 °C.

Monday

Mix of sun and cloud with no precipitation, 10 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Tuesday

Increasing clouds with no precipitation, 20 km/h south wind, treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with trace precipitation, 10 km/h south wind, treeline temperature -8 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Choose conservative terrain and watch for clues of instability.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, avoid terrain where triggering slopes from below is possible
  • 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.