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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 2nd, 2022–Dec 3rd, 2022

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

Regions

Glacier.

Rider triggering of the November 17th persistent weak layer remains possible in isolated terrain features. Assess the snowpack carefully before stepping out in to large open slopes, especially around treeline. Be extra cautious with terrain that hasn't seen significant skier traffic yet this season.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A field team in the Hermit area on Friday experienced whumfing and remotely triggered cookies of snow from unsupported pillows in openings below treeline, all on the Nov. 17th surface hoar layer.

Few natural avalanches have been observed along the highway corridor in the last 3 days. No new reports of backcountry rider triggered avalanches.

One MIN report of 'whumpfing' and remote triggering several avalanches up to size 1.5, ~50cm deep, on moraine features below Glacier Crest on Monday. A Parks Canada field team experienced widespread 'whumpfing' at treeline and below in the Fidelity area on Monday as well.

Snowpack Summary

Cold temps are facetting the upper snowpack. 5-10 cm of snow from Wednesday was blown into fresh windslabs in the alpine. The Nov 17 persistent slab (surface hoar 5-30mm, facets, and crust) is down 50-90cm with the largest surface hoar present on sheltered slopes at treeline and below.

Snowpack depth is still variable, with early season hazards still dominating the landscape below treeline.

Weather Summary

Saturday will start cold (alpine low of -17°C) and cloudy. Temps will gradually warm to a high of -6°C, with clearing skies and light westerly ridgetop winds.

Sunday will be sunny with alpine highs of -4°C, and light E winds.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.

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.

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.