Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 26th, 2025–Feb 27th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

The sensitive persistent weak layer remains our main concern at treeline and above.

Rider-triggered avalanches are likely, and avalanches can be destructive.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche was reported. Tuesday, solar input triggered numerous large avalanches (size 2 to 2.5) on southerly slopes. Small wind slabs (size 1) were also reactive to skiers on cross-loaded features at treeline.

This past weekend, several remote-triggered, sympathetic releases and numerous step-down avalanches occurred throughout the region.

Snowpack Summary

The region received 50 to 60 cm since the last storm but settled quickly. A sun thin crust is visible up to 2000 m on southerly slopes, while extensive strong southerly winds have redistributed recent snow and scoured exposed areas at treeline and alpine.

The storm snow covers weak surfaces, including surface hoar or facets in sheltered, shaded areas, and sun crusts on sun-affected slopes. This layer has caused several large remote triggers since Sunday.

A hard crust from late January lies 40 to 80 cm deep beneath weak facets and isolated surface hoar, with recent avalanches failing on it, especially near Whistler.

The snowpack below is strong.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4°C. Freezing level around 1400 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2°C. Freezing level reaching 2000 m.

Friday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +3°C. Freezing level around 2200 m.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +4°C. Freezing level reaching 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.
Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent 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.