Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Although by definition the danger is low, forecasters have received reports of a remote triggers (usually size 1.5-ish) in isolated alpine terrain for the last little while. Conditions are good but its not open season yet.
Weather Forecast
The benign weather pattern we are currently experiencing will persist for a few more days. Trace amounts of snow combined with a mix of sun and cloud is expected Monday and Tuesday. Wind will remain light from the W/NW. The temperature may dip down to the -20 range Tuesday evening.
Snowpack Summary
Trace amounts of snow over last night. 5-10 cm of recent snow has been redistributed into some thin windslabs in alpine and treeline immediate lees. The October 26th crust/ facet layer is ~ 30 cm above ground. HS ranges from 50-85 cm at 2000 m with the entire snowpack faceting and weakening.
Avalanche Summary
Evidence of some cornice failures was observed on Mt. Bosworth today. They did not appear fresh, and the cornice did not trigger any slabs. A size 2 skier remote was reported on the MIN on Crystal ridge this afternoon, no further information available on this avalanche.
Confidence
Due to the quality of field observations on Sunday
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.