Avalanche Forecast

A small cornice failed naturally near Fernie on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, several small, loose wet avalanches were rider-triggered on sunny slopes.

20 to 25 cm of recent snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces, except for northerly aspects at upper elevations.

A widespread, hard crust with facets above is buried down 180 cm in the Lizard Range and 80 to 120 cm elsewhere. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow, thin-to-thick snowpack at treeline and above are where it may be possible to trigger this layer. However, when a thick surface crust is present, human triggering is unlikely.

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind.  Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind.  Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Partly cloudy, clearing. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
• Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.
• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.