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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 18th, 2022–Dec 19th, 2022

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Blue River, Premier, Clemina, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Whatshan.

Though avalanche activity on the persistent weak layers has decreased it is imperative that backcountry users continue to use extra caution around these layers. Maintain good travel habits and use decision-making tools.

This week's cold temperatures coupled with the shortest daylight hours of the year can make any sort of incident (even broken equipment) an epic. Be careful not to ruin the rest of your season with frozen toes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday a size one, skier accidental, wind slab avalanche was reported on a southeast aspect at 2300 m.

On Friday in the Northern Selkirks skiers remotely triggered a size 2 avalanche which sympathetically triggered a 2.5 avalanche on an adjacent path. These avalanches occurred at 2300m on a southeast aspect. Throughout the region, several machine accidental avalanches were reported to size 2.

On Thursday, skiers remotely triggered a large size 2 avalanche in the Monashees north of Hwy1. This avalanche occurred around 1900 m on an east aspect and was triggered from about 40 m away by skiers on a low-angle bench.

Snowpack Summary

Snowpack depths at treeline range from 100 - 150 cm. In the alpine, snowpack depths are highly variable from extensive wind-affect in many locations.

Surface: 5 cm of new snow now overlies 5-8 mm surface hoar in sheltered areas. On steep solar slopes, new snow overlies a sun crust. Moderate westerly winds have built thin wind slabs in alpine lees.

Upper-pack: Cold temperatures are faceting the upper snowpack. 40-50 cm settling snow overlies a weak layer of 5 mm surface hoar in sheltered and shaded terrain and a sun crust on sunny south-facing slopes.

Mid-pack: Buried 60-90 cm deep, is a persistent weak layer of surface hoar, crust, and faceted crystals. This layer has been most reactive at treeline between 1700-2200 m, but it was also observed as low as 1450 m and on all aspects.

Lower-pack: Below the mid-November layer is a generally weak, faceted snowpack.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Scattered clouds clear in the night. Isolated flurries south of Revelstoke, trace accumulation. Light northeasterly ridgetop winds. Expected temperatures near -27 C this afternoon and tonight.

Monday

Mainly sunny. Temperatures at 1500-1800 m will hover near -20 to -25 C. Light easterly ridgetop winds.

Tuesday

Sunny with cloudy periods. At 1500m temperature will be around -23 C and winds are moderate southwesterly, gusting to 40 km/h.

Wednesday

Sunny. Light northerly ridgetop winds and temperatures are around -25 C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
  • Avoid making assumptions about this layer based on the presence of aggressive tracks on adjacent slopes

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.

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.