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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 6th, 2026–Apr 7th, 2026

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

Regions

South Rockies, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

A cooling trend is reducing avalanche danger. However, it remains possible for humans to trigger a buried weak layer that could produce large slab avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how quickly persistent slabs are gaining strength.

Avalanche Summary

Many small loose wet avalanches released over the past few days.

On Sunday, a very large persistent slab avalanche released naturally near Crowsnest Pass. On Friday, a rider triggered a persistent slab avalanche. See the photos for more information.

A cooling trend should reduce the likelihood of triggering avalanches. Remain cautious around thin, rocky features, where triggering a persistent slab remains possible.

Consider sharing your observations to the MIN.

Snowpack Summary

As the air cools, wet surface snow will freeze into a hard melt-freeze crust. This crust likely exists to mountain tops, with the thickest crust found on sun-exposed slopes. A dusting of snow in the alpine on Tuesday may accumulate on the crust.

Weak faceted grains above a crust from early-March is buried about 50 to 70 cm deep.

Below this, the snowpack is generally well consolidated. However, facets exist at the base of the snowpack in shallow areas near Elkford.

Weather Summary

Monday Night
Partly cloudy. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds with isolated flurries. 1 to 2 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Wednesday
Mostly sunny. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Thursday
Mostly sunny. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.

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.