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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 26th, 2017–Feb 27th, 2017

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

Little Yoho.

The skiing is good however careful terrain selection remains critical right now to avoid triggering the persistent slabs.

Weather Forecast

Cold nights overnight Sunday and Monday with a bit of cloud lingering with light winds. Watch for West winds to pick up on Tuesday with snow likely for the end of the day through Friday combined with a temperature increase.

Snowpack Summary

50-60cm of snow sits over a layer of facets and surface hoar formed mid Jan at treeline and below producing moderate sudden planar results. In the alpine facets can be found down 80-100cm with a stiff snowpack above . Deeper snowpack areas closer to the Wapta have a more settled snowpack with fewer weaknesses.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity noted or reported on Sunday. Signs of the mid February widespread avalanche cycle were evident however. A size 3 in the Emerald Lake Slide Path had initiated on the summit ridge, taken the left half of the start zone and ran to valley floor while activity up to sz 2.5 was evident on Mt. Field.

Confidence

Due to the quality of field observations

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.