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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 3rd, 2026–Feb 4th, 2026

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Purcells, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Ymir, Crawford, Kokanee, Retallack.

Avalanche danger is expected to increase through the day on Wednesday as skies clear and freezing levels rise rapidly.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain due to the timing or intensity of warming will affect the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

A significant avalanche cycle occurred over the weekend on the late-January surface hoar layer atop a crust, producing avalanches up to size 2.

Since then, several smaller human-triggered avalanches (size 1–1.5) have been reported across the region.

In general, recent avalanche activity has been most common near treeline, on a variety of aspects.

Snowpack Summary

While crusty, refrozen surfaces may be present on Wednesday morning on steep south-facing slopes and at lower elevations, rapidly rising freezing levels will likely cause surfaces to become moist as the day progresses.

Approximately 30 to 40 cm of recent snow, since late January, now sits over a widespread surface hoar layer resting on a melt-freeze crust, with up to 15 cm of weak, faceted snow immediately below the crust.

The mid and lower snowpack remain well settled, with no significant concerns.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level rising from 1800 to 2800 m overnight.

Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 3100 m.

Thursday
Sunny. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 3200 m.

Friday
Mostly sunny. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 3000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
  • Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.
  • Avoid travelling on slopes below cornices.

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.

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.