Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 28th, 2024–Mar 29th, 2024

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, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Jasper, Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.

A bit of new snow will freshen up the ski quality but persistent slabs remain a concern. Triggering a persistent slab is most likely on northerly aspects between 1900-2400m where the March 19th crust is not supportive over the Feb 3rd facet/ crust layer.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A size 2 natural persistent slab avalanche was observed on Mt. Churchill on Monday.

On Sunday, 7 skiers remote triggered a size 2 slab from 100m away in the Boundary peak area. Avalanche occurred in a thin rocky spot, alpine, N aspect, 2250m elevation, 35 degree slope, and slid on the Feb 3rd facets/crust layer. The group triggered it from the bench above

Likewise groups have been remote triggering avalanches in the Lake Louise region up to size 3, failing on the the Feb 3rd layer

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm of new snow in the past 24h. Below this new snow, a thin sun crust is present on steep solar slopes at all elevations. On shaded aspects, new snow sits over 10cm of low density snow over a 2-10cm melt-freeze crust. The Feb 3rd crust interface is down 30-90cm. Basal depth hoar and facets make up the bottom of the snowpack. HS ranges from 50 to 150cm.

Weather Summary

Mountain Weather Forecast is available @ Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

Friday Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Precipitation: Trace. Alpine High -5 °C. Light ridge wind. Freezing level: 1500m

Saturday A mix of sun and cloud. No Precipitation. Alpine High -5. Wind west 10-20 km/h. Freezing level 1600m

Sunday A mix of sun and cloud. No Precipitation. Wind west 15

Terrain and Travel Advice

If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.