Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 21st, 2023–Dec 22nd, 2023

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.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

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

The cooling trend will help stabilize the snowpack in the coming days however we are still dealing with a weak base which isn't going anywhere quickly.

The snowpack remains very thin, watch out for early season hazards lurking just below the surface—here's hoping everyone asked for snow from Santa!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Minor sloughing in steep alpine terrain and small pockets of windslab being reported nearby.

Snowpack Summary

Friday's elevated freezing level means there's likely a surface crust below 1700m as temperatures cool off. The snowpack is 45-80cm deep and is weak and facetted. Strong winds have stripped exposed alpine and tree-line terrain, creating hard wind slabs in cross-loaded and lee features. Basal weaknesses are a combo of large facets and chains of depth hoar.

An Ice Climbing Conditions report is available here.

Weather Summary

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

Saturday in the Icefields

A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperature: High -12 °C with mostly light ridge wind occasionally gusting to 35 km/h.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperature: Low -14 °C, High -8 °C with ridge wind southwest: 10 km/h.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.

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.