Avalanche forecast

South Coast Inland

Mar 5 – 6, 2025Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

A hard crust on the snow surface will reduce the likelihood of triggering buried weak layers, but the consequences of an avalanche on these layers remain high.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    New wind slab formation will be isolated to areas that receive new snow and wind, burying a slippery crust.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–3

    Buried weak layers are becoming harder to trigger, but consequences remain high. The most likely places to trigger them will be anywhere that doesn't have a supportive crust at the surface, such as high north aspects.

Confidence

Moderate

Snowpack Summary

Small amounts of snow will bury a widespread crust on most aspects and elevations. A crust may not exist on north aspects above 2100 m.

Around 40 cm of settled snow sits over a weak layer of facets, surface hoar and sun crust buried in mid February. Numerous large natural and remote-triggered avalanches failed on this layer last week.

Another weak facet/crust/surface hoar layer, from late January, is buried 60 to 80 cm deep. This layer has been the culprit for many very large natural, remote and human-triggered avalanches near Whistler last week.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Thursday

Mostly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Friday

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

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.

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