Avalanche Forecast

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Clear skies, no precipitation, 20 km/h wind from the northeast, treeline temperatures drop to -15 C.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny in the morning with increasing cloud in the afternoon, no precipitation, 15 km/h wind from the east, treeline temperatures warm to -10 C.

FRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind, treeline temperatures warm to -8 C.

SATURDAY: Mostly sunny, light wind from the northeast, treeline temperatures warm to -5 C.

Avalanche activity since the weekend has primarily been large cornice failures on north and east facing slopes. For the most part these have not triggered avalanches on the slopes below, with the exception of one very large (size 4) persistent slab avalanche on Monday that was triggered by a massive cornice failure on a northeast aspect in the Selkirks. The triggering of this avalanche was only possible with an extremely large load and is not representative of the general conditions of the region as a whole.

A small human-triggered wind slab avalanche (size 1) was reported in Glacier National Park on Wednesday morning, which is indicative of the lingering possibility of small wind slab avalanches in isolated terrain.

10 to 20 cm of recent snow sits on a melt-freeze crust that exists on all aspects to at least 2200 m and up to mountain tops on solar aspects. Recent northeast wind has formed wind slabs on lee aspects below ridgetops. Another prominent crust layer is found 30 to 70 cm deep. 

Cornices are very large and exposure to slopes beneath them should be minimized, especially if the weather is sunny, warm, or windy.

• Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.