Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Kakwa, Kakwa, McGregor, North Rockies, Pine Pass, Renshaw, Robson, Sugarbowl, Tumbler.
Recent avalanche activity indicates an unstable snowpack & remote-triggering remains a serious concern.
Retreat to more conservative terrain if you encounter signs of instability.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
Wed: Several large natural and skier-triggered avalanches occurred up to size 2.5.
Tues: Riders remote-triggered slabs in the Torpy (photo below)
Mon: Several natural and human-triggered avalanches were reported. A few were remote-triggered, indicating a touchy weak layer.
Looking forward: Continued avalanche activity indicates that storm slabs and persistent weak layers remain primed for human triggering.
Snowpack Summary
10 to 20 cm of new snow on Thursday, accompanied by strong southwest alpine winds built dense and reactive new slabs. In many areas the new snow was wet or fell as rain, creating a moist surface or crust. Below the new snow, 20 to 50 cm of settling storm snow from earlier in the week is sitting on a weak layer of surface hoar or facets in many areas. Additional persistent weak layers are buried between 60 to 90 cm. These consist of more surface hoar and faceted grains, and/or a hard crust. These persistent layers continue to be source of concern and have potential for large step-down avalanches.
Weather Summary
Thursday Night
Clear. 50 to 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Friday
Mostly sunny. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 1600 m.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow / light rain below 1500 m. 35 to 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 1600 m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow / possible rain below 1200 m. 25 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level around 1400 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.
- Stay away from steep slopes, open slopes, and convex rolls at and below treeline where weak layers may be preserved.
- Be especially cautious as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
- Use small, low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Southwesterly winds built wind slabs on leeward northerly and easterly slopes. If triggered, wind slab avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
Weak layers formed in February and January persist within the upper 90 cm of the snowpack. The more the snowpack warms up and weakens over these layers, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3