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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 2nd, 2025–Mar 3rd, 2025

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

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford.

A search for dry snow after the warmup will steer you toward terrain where persistent slabs are still a concern. Keep up the conservative terrain selection on a day of snowpack reassessment.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural size 3 was seen on Evening Ridge Saturday. It started as a slab on the late-January weak layer and scrubbed to ground as it entrained heavy, moist snow in the track.

Explosives control in Ymir Bowl produced a size 3 persistent slab on a northwest-facing feature at 2100 m Friday.

These avalanches fit a pattern of recent activity in the size 2 to 3.5 range running on the late January crust.

Wet loose and wet slabs were also controlled or ran naturally on Friday and Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

A melt-freeze crust or moist snow likely makes up the surface on all but high elevation north aspects. The evolving surface tops the upper part of 30 to 50 cm of snow from last week, which was wind affected at higher elevations and may overlie faceted snow or surface hoar where sheltered.

Two other key weak layers are present in the mid snowpack: a surface hoar or thin crust from mid-February buried 40-60 cm deep, and faceted snow/surface hoar/crust from late January buried 60-90 cm deep. These layers were active during the warmup but should become less triggerable as the snowpack cools and surface crusts strengthen.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Increasing cloud. 20 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Freezing level falling to 1700 m. Treeline temperature 6 °C.

Monday

Partly cloudy with isolated flurries or light rain below 1700 m. 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1800 m. Treeline temperature around 0 °C.

Tuesday

Mainly cloudy with continuing scattered flurries adding up to 5 - 10 cm of new snow above 1700 m. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1700 m. Treeline temperature around 0 °C.

Wednesday

Becoming sunny after up to 5 cm of new snow overnight. 5 to 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1600 m. Treeline temperatures around -1 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
  • 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.

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.