There has been significant change to the lower elevation snowpack over the past week. This will be an important interface to monitor as the next pulse of snow arrives this weekend.
Weather Forecast
Cool temps for the next few days, with freezing levels creeping up to treeline elevation on Friday afternoon. 10cm of snow expected to fall in the Columbia Icefield area by Sunday night.
Snowpack Summary
Recent warm temperatures and rain followed by cooler temps have produced a widespread crust up to 2400 on all aspects. Above this, previous wind affected surfaces in exposed areas and wind slabs on lee aspects.
Avalanche Summary
The avalanche activity has slowed with the cooler temperatures. Several small loose wet slides were observed today along the Endless Chain out of steep, rocky, solar aspects around 2100m.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
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.