Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Good travel conditions continue with a mix of corn skiing on solar aspects and powder on high North aspects. Watch for the effects of daytime heating on the snowpack and enjoy the spring skiing!
Weather Forecast
Continued dry weather with light winds forecast for Monday with freezing levels near valley bottom overnight. On Tuesday freezing levels spike to near 3000m before a cold front moves through the region in the afternoon accompanied but strong winds and brief but intense snowfall. Wednesday sees a cooling and drying trend again.
Snowpack Summary
5-15cm of recent snow in the high alpine on North aspects from a brief storm Friday. Some small, isolated wind slabs up to 30cm were reported on the Wapta on Friday. Firm crusts up to 10cm thick remain intact at most elevations below the recent snow. The basal facets remain dormant though a very large cornice load or intense heat may change this.
Avalanche Summary
A few solar triggered slides off of steep solar aspects today. No other avalanches seen or reported.
Problems
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.