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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 11th, 2015–Apr 12th, 2015

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Good skiing on all aspects with 10-25cm of new snow. Travel conditions remain excellent, but the hazard has risen with the new snow and strong gusty winds. Use caution in steep terrain and wind loaded areas. See more Spring Conditions details here.

Weather Forecast

Continued light snow with cool temperatures and gusty West winds are forecast for Sunday. Additional accumulations are forecast to be in the 5-10cm range at tree line. Monday remains cool and cloudy with a trace of new snow, freezing levels rising to 1900m and moderate West winds.

Snowpack Summary

10-25cm of new snow on Saturday with gusty SW winds has created wind slabs up to 40cm thick in lee areas above treeline. The new snow sits on a firm crust on solar aspects up to ridge crests and up to 2300m on N aspects. Below this the snow pack is well settled overall.

Avalanche Summary

One small skier accidental on a N aspect on Mt Bell on Saturday in the new snow. Ski cutting produced numerous small wind slabs at the local ski areas. One recent size 2.5 failing on the basal facets in the Observation Peak area in the past 48hrs. Several recent cornice failures pulling out small slabs on the basal facets have been reported.

Confidence

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.