Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
It will be a few days yet before we can center-punch the bigger lines. Watch for shallow areas, lee slopes, and rotten snow. Stay to the margins for a few more days.
Weather Forecast
Light snow, sunny periods, and moderately cool temperatures for the next few days.
Snowpack Summary
10-25cm of recent new snow combined with some wind is creating lee slabs. On all aspects at treeline and in the alpine, an underlying layer of midpack and basal facets are still a concern.
Avalanche Summary
A skier remote, size 1 avalanche of new snow on suncrust was noted in Kootenay today.
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.
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.