Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff, Banff Yoho Kootenay, East Side 93N, Field, Kootenay, LLSA, Lake Louise, Sunshine, West Side 93N.
Snow conditions on the north and east aspects are good, but surface crusts persist elsewhere. The avalanche danger remains Moderate due to the persistent nature of the basal facet problem, where shallow snowpack areas are still causing concern (eg: the east side of Banff Park).
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported or observed today.
Snowpack Summary
10 to 15cm of storm snow from the past 3 days buries sun crusts to ridgetop and temperature crusts below 1500m. The January sun crust and facet interface is down 40 to 120cm. The November depth hoar at the base of the snowpack remains weak.
Weather Summary
A building ridge of high pressure will give us another day of mostly clear skies with some clouds and the odd flurry here and there (no accumulation). Temperatures will remain cool with valley bottom highs reaching only +1 and light winds. Spring is not here quite yet, but look for temperatures and freezing levels to rise starting on Friday.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
Avalanche Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
The November basal facets remain a concern for triggering. Snowpack tests continue to produce moderate to hard sudden collapse results. Unfortunately, we can't forget about this problem yet.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3.5