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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 17th, 2023–Jan 18th, 2023

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

Regions

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

The snowpack remains generally shallow and weak, a little less so to the West. Do not lose sight of the deep persistent slab problem even though conditions appear to have improved.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Very small results were reported from Lake Louise patrol doing control runs. Sunshine patrol observed a size 2 in the Healy Paths that was older than 72 hours. Also, a ski patroller triggered a size 2 deep persistent slab while skiing the slope after getting no result with explosives. No burial or injuries.

Snowpack Summary

Small amounts of snow have accumulated over the last 10 days bringing the total to roughly 10cm settled, with little wind effect. The Dec 17 layer is down 25-50 cm and the Nov 16 deep persistent layer is 40-90 cm. Both of these layers continue to produce sudden failures in snowpack tests. In deeper snowpack areas like Little Yoho these two layers are deeper and more spread apart in the snowpack.

Weather Summary

Temperatures will remain slightly warmer than seasonal with the ridge around -10 and the valley about -5 on Wednesday. Isolated flurries may bring a trace of snow. The wind is expected to pick up into the medium/strong range from the SW early Wednesday morning.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Uncertainty is best managed through conservative terrain choices at this time.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.