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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2026–Mar 16th, 2026

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Widespread avalanches certain.
Treeline
Widespread avalanches certain.
Below Treeline
Widespread avalanches certain.

Regions

Glacier.

Fasten your seatbelts folks. Atmospheric River week ahead!

Prolonged heavy loading and rising freezing levels this week means it is a good time to stay out of avalanche terrain. Period.

Confidence

High

  • We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase with the forecast weather.

Avalanche Summary

We expect a significant, destructive series of natural avalanche cycles this week.

Size 1.5 skier triggered wind slab was reported on MacDonald West shoulder Friday.

Neighbouring operations are still reporting sporadic, persistant slab natural avalanche activity up to sz 3.

Information on how to deal with persistent slab problems, see the Avalanche Canada blog post.

Snowpack Summary

In the Alpine and at Treeline, 30-70cm of storm snow has fallen since Mar 8. Moderate to strong southerly winds have loaded lee features in exposed terrain.

Below treeline, 20-30 cm of storm snow covers the Mar 8 rain crust, which is present up to ~1850m.

The Feb 9 and Jan 26 surface hoar (SH) layers are now buried 110-170cm deep. The Jan 26th layer is a crust with either surface hoar (up to 40mm in some places!) or facets on top of it.

Weather Summary

A series of atmospheric rivers are forecast to impact our area this week. Expect a steep rise in freezing levels, heavy precipitation and strong to extreme winds.

Tonight Snow, 5cm. Alpine low -10°C. Freezing level (FZL) 500m. Wind SW 25km/h

Mon Snow, 25-30cm. High -1°C, FZL 1800m. Wind SW-35 gusting 85km/h

Tues Snow, 30cm. High 1°C. Wind SW 30-55km/h. FZL 2300m.

Wed Snow, 40cm. High 1°C. Wind SW 30-80km/h. FZL 2000m

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.