Avalanche Forecast

Thursday Night: Clear skies, light wind from the northeast, alpine temperatures around -12 C.

Friday: Clear skies, moderate wind from the northeast, alpine temperatures rising to -9 C.

Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind from the southwest, alpine temperature -9 C.

Sunday: Increasing cloud in the afternoon, moderate wind from the southwest, alpine temperature -7 C.

A MIN report from Wednesday at Kootenay Pass noted a remotely skier triggered size 1 wind slab avalanche at ridge top around treeline. Ridge tops and slopes where the wind has deposited blowing snow are places where avalanches could most likely be triggered right now. Early season avalanches can most easily propagate and run in areas where the underlying ground is smooth, such as on glaciers, rock slabs, scree, or grassy slopes.

Observations are limited this time of year, so there is a fair bit of uncertainty about the extent of current avalanche activity. If you see anything while out in the field, please consider sharing that information with us and fellow recreationists via the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

A recent MIN report from Kootenay Pass describes wind loaded ridge tops, scoured windward aspects in the alpine, and variable alpine snow depths with up to 50 cm overlying the rain crust. They also found well preserved powder skiing below treeline. Underneath this snow lies a lower snow pack largely characterized by sandwiches of crusts and large, weak snow crystals (facets), as observed in another recent MIN report. We're also keeping an eye on a potential surface hoar layer (see video here). With few field observations, uncertainty remains on the distribution and reactivity of these layers. It's still early season and the snow pack remains fairly thin, especially at lower elevations.