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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 12th, 2024–Jan 13th, 2024

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

Regions

Glacier.

Overnight low temps in the -30s and short days (sunset is 16:10) greatly increase the risk associated with venturing in to the backcountry.

Be extra conservative when choosing an objective, and leave yourself lots of extra time to execute your exit plan.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural size 2 slab avalanche was observed Friday, from the South facing slope between Grizzly and Little Sifton.

Thursday morning, there was a natural size 3 slab avalanche in the NE facing start zone of the Crossover avalanche path (Mt MacDonald). The debris ran full path, stopping in the creek at valley bottom.

There were several natural and human triggered avalanches early in the week, failing in the new snow - see MINs for Video Peak and Forever Young.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate winds (S/SW switching to N/NE) have redistributed 40-50cms of recent storm snow. This sits on: a sun crust on solar aspects; firm wind effect in the alpine; and soft facetted snow on sheltered N aspects.

Below 2100m there is a crust down 70-80cm (from Dec 5th/6th).

The Dec 1 surface hoar layer is down 90-120cm and is decomposing. However, it is still reactive in isolated snowpack tests.

Weather Summary

An extremely cold arctic ridge is in place over BC.

Tonight: clear, alpine low -32°C, light ridge winds.

Sat: Sunny, high -21°C, light SE winds.

Sun: Sunny, low -22°C, high -20°C, light NE winds.

Mon: Mix of sun and cloud, low -21°C, high -14°C.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Be carefull with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.

Problems

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.