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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 4th, 2025–Apr 5th, 2025

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 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.

Regions

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

Start and finish your day early.

If you head up to high north-facing terrain in search of dry powder, avoid wind-loaded areas and overhead hazard.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, a few large (size 2) wet loose avalanches where observed.

On Wednesday, a skier triggered a size 1 wind slab on a south aspect in the alpine that failed on a sun crust.

On Tuesday, a skier remotely triggered a size 3 slab avalanche from 40 m away. It failed in the moist snow below the crust formed last week.

Large natural cornice failures continue to be reported and are a prime suspect for triggering large persistent slab avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

On the surface, up to 30 cm of recent snow exists on northerly aspects in the alpine. Solar aspects and lower elevations will present a crust or moist snow.

Below this, a 5 to 25 cm variable strength crust from last week's rain event is present. This is capping a moist upper snowpack.

The primary weak layer of concern was buried in early March consisting of surface hoar, facets, and a crust is now 80 to 150 cm deep.

Deeper weak layers from February and January are buried 150 to 200 cm deep.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly clear. 5 to 15 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature rising to +1 °C. Freezing level rising to 1900 m.

Sunday

Increasing cloud cover. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level rising to 2500 m.

Monday

Increasing cloud cover. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.