Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Some new snow has refreshed the ski quality but also re-hidden many rocks just below the surface. Ride with care in these early season conditions!
Weather Forecast
Cool temperatures with moderate SW winds and little precipitation on monday. Tuesday afternoon/ overnight we may see 5-15 mm of precipitation and increased SW winds as a system passes over us. This will be short lived with a clearing trend on Wed.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm's of new snow along the divide has improved ski quality. This new snow has blown around by moderate SW winds to create thin, soft windslabs in the ALP and at TL. These windslabs sit on a surface hoar layer in many areas and will be one to watch in the future. The basal crusts/ facets persist providing a rotten foundation for this new snow.
Avalanche Summary
Cracking of new snow in immediate lees and soft slabs to size 1 reported in the Lake Louise area today.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Tuesday
Problems
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.