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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 9th, 2025–Jan 10th, 2025

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

Regions

Badshot-Battle, Goat, Kokanee, Retallack.

Large human triggered avalanches are possible.

Evidence of a persistent weak layer may be hard to find. Avoiding steep, shallow terrain is the best way to avoid this avalanche problem.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, Several small (up to size 1.5) natural and human triggered wind slab and dry loose avalanches were reported.

However, there was one report on Monday of a large avalanche remotely triggered by humans in steep, north facing treeline terrain, northwest of Kaslo. It is suspected that it failed on the early December persistent weak layer.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 20 to 30 cm of soft snow on the surface. In specific places you may find a thin crust, or small wind slabs. Below the recent snow, there are potentially a couple different layers of large (up to 25 mm), feathery surface hoar crystals 15-35 cm deep. They may be resting on a crust on slopes that face the sun.

A widespread surface hoar/facet/crust layer is buried 70 to 120 cm. This layer is trending to unreactive in much of the region, but it's not fully healed. It was most recently active south of Trout Lake and east of Slocan Lake on north through east-facing slopes between 1700 and 2300 m.

At treeline, snow depths range from 135 to 200 cm.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Increasing cloud. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Possible temperature inversion above 2000 m. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 7 to 10 cm of snow. 15 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Temperature inversion breaking down. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h northwest wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h northwest wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to a buried crust.

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.