Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Mar 22 – 23, 2014Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Great ski quality in most areas, but these are not typical March conditions. The persistent nature of the Feb.10th layer does not instill confidence in bigger terrain. SH

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3
    We are finding moderate to hard sudden collapse results on the Feb.10 interface. Thin and variable snowpack areas will be the easiest places to trigger this interface.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3
    A 5cm thick suncrust with facets on top exists on solar aspects with moderate, sudden shears down 40-60cm. An avalanche triggered on this layer could step down to the Feb.10 interface causing a larger avalanche.

Weather Forecast

Mainly cloudy and cool conditions over the next few days with only trace amounts of snow and light gusting moderate NW alpine winds.

Snowpack Summary

30-50cm of recent storm snow is bonding well to old surfaces. In the Lake Louise region, the Mar 2nd suncrust/facet layer can be found down 40-60 cm on S aspects, and the Feb 10 crust/facet layer is down 80-100cm on all aspects. Both are producing moderate to hard sudden failures with the potential to propagate. Fewer results on North aspects.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed today. There was one size 2.5 explosive controlled avalanche in the Lake Louise area yesterday which slid to ground on a N aspect in previously controlled terrain .

Confidence

Regions covered