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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 28th, 2025–Apr 30th, 2025

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

Overall, the avalanche hazard will be lower in the morning and increase with daytime heating over the next few days.

Start early and finish early to take advantage of the lower hazard.

Click the following link for more info on spring conditions.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A quieter day for avalanches on Monday due to cloudy skies and slightly cooler temperatures.

Over the past few days, there have been lots of small wet loose avalanches and some cornice failures up to size 2 as temperatures heated up in the afternoon and the surface crusts broke down.

One skier triggered size 2.5 slab was reported in Kananaskis on Saturday during the heat of the day, and a couple of cornice triggered slabs up to size 2 have also been seen during hot afternoons.

Snowpack Summary

Surface crusts exist to ridgetop on solar aspects, and on all aspects to around 2400 m.

Due north alpine slopes still hold 5-15 cm of dry snow over firmer surfaces.

Below the settled mid-pack, shallow snowpack areas to the east have weak facets and depth hoar in the lower half, while deeper snowpack areas to the west have a well-settled lower snowpack.

Weather Summary

Monday night - Freezing levels dropping to 1500 m, scattered flurries and light NW winds. Treeline temperatures down to -4°C.

Tuesday - Mainly cloudy, light to moderate W winds, treeline temperatures up to +2°C with freezing levels rising to 2500 m.

Wednesday - Mainly cloudy, moderate W winds, freezing levels down to 2100m and rising to 2500 m. Treeline temperatures between -1°C and +1°C.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Start your day early and be out of avalanche terrain during the heat of the day.
  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.

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.

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.