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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 27th, 2026–Feb 28th, 2026

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus, Sky Pilot.

Dangerous slabs may persist after recent storms.

Choose conservative routes with simple, low-angle terrain and no overhead hazard.

Back off of sunny slopes if the surface turns moist.

Confidence

Low

  • We are uncertain about how quickly persistent slabs are gaining strength.

Avalanche Summary

Thursday
Explosive control and ski cutting produced a few small wind slabs in lee and crossloaded terrain.

Wednesday
Explosive control triggered two size 2 cornices and ski cuts produced some small wind slabs.

Tuesday
A few human-triggered size 1 to 2 slabs were reported

Monday
A widespread natural avalanche cycle occurred, producing slabs up to size 3.5.

Snowpack Summary

Strong to extreme southwesterly winds have scoured, pressed, and loaded snow surfaces, creating widespread wind effect.

40 to 70 cm of storm snow from the past week is sitting on a layer of surface hoar and facets on a crust in some areas. How quickly the storm snow will stabilize remains uncertain.

Another concerning weak layer consisting of a crust with facets from early February is buried 80 to 100+ cm deep.

The remaining snowpack appears to be well settled and bonded.

Weather Summary

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Saturday
Sunny. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.

Sunday
Sunny. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level rising to 2300 m.

Monday
Sunny. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

Problems

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.

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.