Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 12th, 2024–Mar 13th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

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

Good riding in sheltered areas. Start your day early and keep your objectives flexible.

Your forecasters have no confidence in the strength of the snowpack, and neither should you!

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been observed or reported.

Snowpack Summary

Deep storm snow, building wind slabs, and a forecasted warmup will stiffen the upper snowpack into a more cohesive, likely extremely reactive slab over a crust, down 35-60cm. This persistent weak layer is consistently reactive in snowpit tests. The equally worrisome basal depth hoar makes up the bottom third of the snowpack. HS ranges from 80 to 130cm.

Weather Summary

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

Parker Ridge - Wednesday

A mix of sun and clouds. No new precip.

Alpine temperature: High -5 °C.

SW Ridge winds: 15-30 km/h.

Freezing level: 1700-1900m.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, large avalanches may reach the end of run out zones.
If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.

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.