Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 12th, 2025–Dec 13th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

Buried weak layers will likely cause dangerous avalanche conditions to persist.

Ensure your route planning accounts for overhead hazard and avoids travelling under large slopes.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

The avalanche cycle continued on through the past week, with many large storm and persistent slab avalanches failing deep within the snowpack, either below the storm snow or on the crust from November.

The larger avalanches (size 3-3.5) were running from the alpine into the valley bottoms, well below treeline.

Snowpack Summary

50 to 120 cm of snow has fallen this week and has rapidly settled . This new snow overlies a weak surface hoar layer and/or weak faceted snow.

Surface hoar is most likely to be located in tree openings sheltered from the wind, whereas faceted snow may be found in wind-exposed terrain into the alpine.

Facets may be associated with a hard melt-freeze crust that formed in the middle of November. This layer has recently produced large avalanches due to ongoing snowfall and increased loading.

Weather Summary

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 10 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 700 m.

Saturday
Cloudy. 3 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 10 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 40 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Use conservative route selection. Choose simple, low angle terrain with no overhead hazard.
Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.