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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 17th, 2025–Feb 18th, 2025

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

Regions

Lizard-Flathead, Flathead, Lizard.

A buried weak layer exists.

Watch for signs of instability, like whumpfing, and change your plan accordingly.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, large whumpfs were reported near the Fernie ski resort which indicate an unstable snowpack.

There were numerous, small dry loose avalanches, both natural- and rider-triggered on the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

20 to 30 cm of snow has fallen since Friday and may have formed deeper deposits in lee areas due to the wind near ridge top.

The storm snow is sitting on 30 to 60 cm of faceted old snow. Below this is a persistent weak layer buried in late January. Which is a crust on sun-exposed slopes, and facets and/or surface hoar elsewhere.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled, with no other layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny. 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny. 15 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Thursday

A mix of sun and clouds with 1 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Use appropriate sluff management techniques.
  • Make observations and continually assess conditions as you travel.

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.