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
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Skiff of new snow and a bunch of wind - the skiing is not that great unless you find a wind sheltered location.
Weather Forecast
A fairly benign weather forecast for the weekend: expect light flurries or the weekend, maybe another 5 cm in total and possibly a little more on the West side of the divide. The temperatures will dip to highs of -14C. Fortunately the winds will become light through the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
70-110 cm of snowpack exists across the region. The main weakness is at the base of the snowpack, where facets and depth hoar produce inconsistent test results 15 cm above the ground. The Dec 18 layer of SH found further west is not prominent here. In the alpine, thin small windslabs can be found isolated terrain features.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed or reported today. On Dec 31, a thin size 1 windslab was triggered by a group on Quartz ridge near Sunshine Ski Area.
Confidence
Due to the quality of field observations
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.