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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 4th, 2025–Jan 5th, 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

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

Fresh wind slabs will likely be triggerable by riders on Sunday.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday and Saturday, numerous natural as well as skier- and explosive-triggered wind slabs were reported size 1-2. Most were in reverse-loaded lees of ridgetop on west to southwest aspects at alpine and treeline elevations.

Snowpack Summary

New snow falls with wind over generally soft, faceted and/or moderately wind-affected surfaces.

A right-side-up upper snowpack appears to be bonding well to a crust buried 70 to 100 cm deep. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and bonded with no deeper concerns.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Monday

Sunny. 10 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 2300 m.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level falling to 2700 m to 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • The best and safest riding will be on slopes that have soft snow without any slab properties.

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.