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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 28th, 2025–Mar 1st, 2025

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Big scary avalanches!

Warm temperatures and sun further destabilize the already spicy snowpack conditions. Stay disciplined and resist venturing into consequential terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Large, scary persistent slab avalanche activity continues to be reported daily. On Wednesday and Thursday, solar-triggered naturals were reported size 2-3 in the alpine, and remotely-triggered slabs were reported size 2-2.5 at alpine and treeline elevations. Many were triggered by riders from hundreds of meters away, failing on a layer of surface hoar buried 50 to 90 cm deep, resulting in large and destructive avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Surface snow is moist or wet on solar aspects and at low elevations. At upper elevations, previous strong wind has redistributed surface snow and scoured exposed areas.

50 to 60 cm of snow sits over a weak layer of facets, surface hoar and sun crust buried in mid February. Numerous large natural and remote-triggered avalanches have been failing on this layer throughout the region this week.

Another weak facet/crust/surface hoar layer, from late January, is buried 40 to 80 cm deep. This layer has been the culprit for many very large natural, remote and human-triggered avalanches near Whistler in recent days.

Weather Summary

Friday night

Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2°C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +4°C. Freezing level 2300 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 1-5 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Monday

Sunny. 10 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2°C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.
  • Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.
  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

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.