Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 11th, 2026–Jan 12th, 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 avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Cariboos, South Columbia, Blue River, Clearwater, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Dogtooth, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack.

New snow builds fresh storm slabs and adds load to a buried weak layer that has potential to produce large avalanches. It's a good day for conservative terrain choices.

Confidence

High

We are confident the likelihood of avalanche will increase with the arrival of the forecast weather.

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday, avalanche activity included

numerous natural wind slab avalanches up to size 2.5
persistent slab avalanches were mostly skier triggered size 1-1.5 or explosive triggered size 2-3.5

Last week, large natural persistent slab avalanches were widespread size 2 to 3.5. As new snow adds load to this layer, a resurgence in large natural avalanche activity can be expected.

Snowpack Summary

New snow falls over settled or wind affected snow from last week. By the end of the day Monday, 30 to 60 cm of new snow is forecast to accumulate. The new snow arrives with wind, loading lee features at exposed elevations.

A problematic layer of surface hoar is now buried around 1 m deep or more. Widespread avalanche activity was observed on this layer during the storm last week.

The prominent mid-December crust is now buried around 1.5 m deep, and is present up to 2300 m. Triggering this layer is considered unlikely, except with large loads or in thin snowpack areas.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 5 to 15 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Monday
Cloudy. 15 to 25 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 25 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.

Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 mm of rain at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.

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.