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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 7th, 2023–Dec 8th, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Early Season

Regions

Fryatt, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.

This week's storm brought limited snow to this region. However, many areas were stripped from the storm's strong winds and lee or cross-loaded features will have new windslabs sitting on a weak base.

The threat of early season hazards is real and just below the surface.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Wednesday's patrol noted no significant avalanche observations as the storm brought far less snow to the region compared to the Parkway.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of new snow redistributed by strong winds has stripped many areas and formed windslabs where deposited. This overlies a weak surface hoar and facet layer or a melt-freeze crust on south and west aspects. The snowpack is 30-40cm in depth with a weak facetted base.

A rain crust exists below 1800m.

Weather Summary

The Mountain Weather Forecast is available from Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud with ridgetop southwest winds 20 km/h.

Alpine temperature: High -11 °C and freezing level at valley bottom.

Saturday

A mix of sun and cloud again on saturday with ridgetop southwest winds bumping up to 35 km/h.

Alpine temperature: Low -13 °C, High -9 °C.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.

Problems

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.