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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 15th, 2025–Apr 16th, 2025

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

Regions

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

Higher elevations hold the best riding, but are also where triggering slabs is most likely.

Avoid being below cornices and plan to be out of avalanche terrain before the heat of the day.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Last week, riders got surprised by a buried surface hoar layer in the Selkirks in north-facing alpine terrain. Activity included naturally triggered slabs to size 3, and human-triggered to size 2, including remote triggers.

Cornice failures occur sporadically, and have triggered large avalanches on the slope below (size 2-3).

Loose wet avalanches (size 1-2) continue to happen on steep south-facing slopes in the afternoon.

Snowpack Summary

Surface conditions vary from dry powder on high-north aspects, a crust or moist snow low down and on south-facing slopes, and hard-wind-affected snow in exposed areas.

A layer of surface hoar has been reactive in the Selkirks this week. It has been reported 30-70 cm deep, most prevalent in sheltered north-facing slopes between 2200 to 2600 m.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally strong, with older weak layers now buried 100 to 250 cm deep. There's a chance large triggers—like cornice failures—could still release deeper layers, especially on high north-facing slopes.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

A mix of sun and cloud, isolated light precipitation. 20 to 50 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature drops to -5 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud, isolated light precipitation. 20 to 50 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature rises to -1 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Thursday

Mostly clear. 10 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature rises to 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud. 15 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature rises to 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for remote triggering and large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
  • Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
  • Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.

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.