The best skiing can be found in wind sheltered glades around treeline.
Weather Forecast
A low pressure system will begin to move through on Wednesday afternoon with light snow flurries and moderate to strong Southwest ridgetop winds. Overcast skies and snow flurries will continue into Thursday, but will not amount to a lot of new snow. Temperatures will remain cold as a touch of arctic air influences the forecast area.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack in the alpine and treeline is supportive, but new snow is needed soon to maintain this strength. Other snow observations in the alpine around the Columbia icefields indicates hard slabs and soft slabs of various thickness, but no propagation apparent with skier traffic.
Avalanche Summary
Several slab and loose avalanches to size 2 occurred on alpine solar aspects originating out of steep rock bands and initiating cross loaded gully features in the Icefields area today.
Problems
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.
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.