Recent Avalanche Observations Bow Hut Conditions 2023 Guide Training Touring Course Banff Yoho Kootenay: West Side 93N, 11 hours ago Observation The ACMG Guides Training Touring group spent the last four days based at the Bow Hut skiing nearby classic objectives. Very cold temps ranging from -17 to - 30C and moderate north and west winds created widespread wind effect and marginal skiing conditions by the end of the trip. 3 photos Complex crowns on Lefroy Banff Yoho Kootenay: Lake Louise, 13 hours ago Observation No direct observations other than these older crowns, but size and complexity convey well the present snowpack issues. 2 photos Bootleg Purcells: St. Mary, 14 hours ago Observation Good conditions but hard travel. Windy above treeline with a lot of snow being moved about. Big cornices forming in the usual areas. Round treeline and in the trees no sign of any instabilities. Presumed cornice collapse responsible for fresh debris in the alpine. Ledge Basin - Stadium - Cleavage bowl South Coast: Sky Pilot, 15 hours ago Observation Skied in and around Ledge basin and Stadium glacier. Gunsight couloir was mostly firm snow or ice crust with some wind deposited snow. The best skiing was in sun protected N facing slopes that weren't too steep. 8812 & Cheops north bowl Glacier, 16 hours ago Observation The east side of 8812 bowl skiied well, cold facetted snow with roughly 6 inches of penetration. Cheops north bowl on the other hand was very wind effected the whole way down (the top 2/3 are the worst). STS ran size 1+ within the last day or so. 2 photos Low Ridge 2000 Lizard-Flathead: Lizard, 16 hours ago Observation Skied lower Fish bowl from Ridge 2000. Evidence of recent size 1-2 avalanches in lower Fish, which appear to have been naturally triggered. Found about 15-20cm of powder on top of a crust. Minimal wind affected snow, and no wind slab. 1 photos Outer Siberia Ridge AST2 Lizard-Flathead: Lizard, 16 hours ago Observation We skinned up from Falling Star along the edge of the trees to the saddle. One other group above us. We then skinned NE up to top of ridge. Dug a large snow pit on NW side of ridge. Snowpack depth 195 cm. Snowpack essentially as expected from regional snowpack data. 2 photos Grizzly Couloir Glacier, 16 hours ago Observation Skied grizzly couloir today in windy, cold temps. Snow conditions were poor: the couloir and the slopes below it were variable snow with a hard wind slab ~10cm thick that you'd sink through on every other turn (mostly survival skiing, wouldn't recommend doing this line at the moment !). 2 photos South facing slope skiing Yukon: White Pass West, 17 hours ago Observation After the post from Friday, we changed our plans of skiing some North-East facing couloirs and opted for South facing aspects...knowing the powder would not meet us there ha! The day felt like an April day - incredibly warm, but the crust under our skis at higher elevation did not seem to get wet. West Hogs Back Chic-Chocs, 18 hours ago Observation Significant amount crust along ridge during ascent. There was about 20cm of powder on top of the crust descending ‘Locaux Loquaces’. Crust supported skiing, but a boot would go through easily. Coverage seemed quite good, no rocks after dropping off of the ridge. 1 photos Pedley Pass Area Cutblock 18 hours ago Observation Skinned up to the Pedley Pass Area. Didn't see any avy signs on the way up. With the instability and forecasts we elected to ride a mellow North facing cut block. Skinning to the top of the cutblock we had one small area with collapsing snow and cracks. 1 photos Sortie Marsoui 30 janvier 18 hours ago Observation 10 à 40cm de neige de faible densité recouvrent la croûte du 18 janvier, cette dernière supporte le poids d'un skieur. Aucune propriété de plaque n'a été observée. Mont Ernest-Laforce et autres Chic-Chocs, 19 hours ago Observation Condition de neige exceptionnel. Nouvelle neige de +/- 15 cm depuis hier soir! Faible vent voir aucun, les sommets exposés au vents bien enneiger encore. Croute bien ensevelit dans les coulées et les bols! Le Plaisir était définitivement au rendez-vous! Sluffing 19 hours ago Observation Dans la nouvelle neige (15cm) de la nuit dernière Class 2 NAK South Face Avalanche, 1800m South Coast Inland: Coquihalla, 20 hours ago Observation Here is a link to a video showing the slide afterward. NSFW language warning. (https://imgur.com/a/e4wYTIM) It is very clear we should not have been in that terrain and made a severe mistake in our decision to travel through what we were considering to be supported terrain. 4 photos Seymour Out and Back South Coast: North Shore, 20 hours ago Observation Generally fairly boilerplate on anything with SE to SW exposure. Combination of booting, skinning, and ski crampons made for easy travel. No boot pen on S facing slopes. W, NW, and E generally breakable crust (and anywhere with trees too). Maria fqme 22 hours ago Observation Piste Pierre ,MUR,COULÉ nord,20cm de nouvelle neige sur croute non résistantes avec 20 cm de neige durcie très belle glice. 3 photos Crusty Thar South Coast Inland: Coquihalla, 22 hours ago Observation Skin track up to Thar peak was very crusty and wind/sun affected. Closer to the top were very tricky conditions. Ski crampons would be a good idea. We boot packed some sections as the skin track disappeared into solid wind and sun crust. Cold start -15c'ish at the parking lot. 2 photos Buried Surface Hoar Sea To Sky: Spearhead, 23 hours ago Observation Have found a thin layer of buried surface hoar the last three days with moderate CT results, down nearly 30cm in the lee and 15cm in windward aspects. Snow pits all around 2000m near Whistler & Blackcomb. Silvern Sunny Day Northwest Inland: Hudson Bay, 23 hours ago Observation Took advantage of the beautiful day to explore Silvern Lakes area. Lots of wind transport happening at ridgetop, creating a reactive pocket of windslab just below the ridgetop. 3 photos Sz 3.5 on SW facing peak in Wedge Group Sea To Sky: Spearhead, 1 day ago Observation Large, almost wall to wall crown on SW face of unnamed peak S of Wedge. Observed from Decker Lake later in the day when the sertting sun really lit up the crown line. Inferred windslab/wind loaded release based on aspect but obviously no hard data. Commonwealth Loop Kananaskis: Spray - KLakes, 1 day ago Observation A cold Commonwealth loop, but a beautiful day. Little to no signs of natural avalanches. 3 photos Cornice Ridge Kootenay Boundary: Kootenay Pass, 1 day ago Observation Good skiing on north side of Kootenay Pass. Great powder on Cornice Ridge east aspect, Buzz's Ridge SE aspect and SW aspect from Buzz's Ridge to Grover Lake. Missile Ridge SE was wind affected and variable from southerly winds. Surprisingly warm day with cold temps but full sun and almost no wind. Mt Cain Hockey Rink Vancouver Island: North Island, 1 day ago Observation Did some poking around at Mt Cain for the first time touring. Found a very gnarly solar crust and a melt freeze crust every where else. The solar aspects in East bowl were basically a continuous ice sheet that did not soften much in the warmth of the day. Feather SE 1 day ago Observation Had a fantastic day skiing the SE side of Feather Peak. The snow got better the higher we got. S aspect was crusty, SE aspect had a less chattery crust with some powder/ dust on top that made for enjoyable turns. Dug a pit at 1500m on a 27deg SE slope. Total snow depth 200cm pit depth 100cm. 5 photos Bojo Mountain South Coast Inland: Manning, 1 day ago Observation 15-20cm of soft powder on most aspects and in trees. Wind affected at peak/ridgetop. Great tree skiing on the west slope of Bojo down to Poland Lake. The lake was frozen over but the ice was very soft and slushy. 1 photos East Ridge Kootenay Boundary: South Okanagan, 1 day ago Observation Little slack country mission today. Skied the east ridge outside big white and found some VERY wind affected conditions coming down the ridge. Better inside the bowl but with the winds cross loading most of the area over the past few days we kept things mellow. 2 photos Goat Ridge Whumpfing Observed South Coast: Sky Pilot, 1 day ago Observation Snowshoeing goat ridge we observed significant whumpfing in multiple locations. On spot seems to have propagated over 40 feet between two snowshoers where both heard it simultaneously. No cracks or other signs of instability on the surface. Lazy Boy South Coast Inland: Duffey, 1 day ago Observation Variable skiing in the alpine (wind effect). ~5-10cm soft soft in some areas on the climb up. ECT no result at ~1670m beside the treed.. After no result, pulled the entire snowpack forward with the shovel and it broke at (uneven) ground on facets. 3 photos Crusty Overlord Glacier Sea To Sky: Spearhead, 1 day ago Observation Strong overnight NE winds scoured most alpine slopes above the Kees and Claire hut. Skied the Overlord glacier from the Whirlwind col down to 1650m. Mixed bag of snow conditions - grabby chalky snow, supportive wind crust and light powder. Probed 180-220cm in lower glacier. 5 photos Fish n chips Northwest Coastal: Shames, 1 day ago Observation Avalanche observation by Steph Bev, seen near Shames, reported on Sun 29th Jan, 2023 1:00PM Iago Peak NE Ridge South Coast Inland: Coquihalla, 1 day ago Observation Compression Test - CTM18 - down 45 cm non-planar break just below crust 3 photos Spearhead, Phalanx glacier and way poopy Sea To Sky: Spearhead, 1 day ago Observation Snow on spearhead glacier was variable, and crusty. Riding quality on lower part of phalanx glacier improved, pockets of powder in sheltered terrain. Temperatures on Way poopy were warm due to the sun, snow remained dry but icy and crusty. ~200 m N of Naumulten Lodge South Columbia: Valhalla, 1 day ago Observation 6 cm ski penetration 34 degrees NNW aspect HS 170 cm - dry top to bottom Fist at top to one finger, to Ice crust at 80cm from surface (~1 cm thick) 4F @ 130 cm Facets and rounds 110 to 150 cm Ice crust at 150 cm 4F 150 cm to ground Extended column (30 x 90 cm) CT failed (Quality = 1) on 30 hard ( al… Feather P 1 day ago Observation Dug pit at near 1700m (35 degree slope) just below N facing ridgetop to investigate reported buried surface hoar. 2 photos Goat Ridge South Coast: Sky Pilot, 1 day ago Observation Variable conditions on the north facing couloirs off Goat Ridge. The road in from the gondy was death by a thousand alders and just as many creek crossings. The snow in the couloirs was icy refrozen sun crust with a few pockets of chalky wind affected slab. Would I recommend it to anyone? 1 photos AST Summit Creek Yukon: White Pass West, 1 day ago Observation We had an AST 1 class out today under beautiful sunny skies. A strong temperature inversion saw temps of -16C at the highway and -8C just 200m above. The place is covered in a thick rain crust to 1600m that now has surface hoar and facets on top of it. 3 photos Indefatigable Kananaskis: Spray - KLakes, 1 day ago Observation The day started out at -31C but temperatures rapidly increased after we gained a 100m. North facing protected trees skied good. Down drafting North winds on the south aspect kept things cold in the alpine. 3 photos Rogers south Glacier, 1 day ago Observation Rogers south saw a lot of wind loading today. Skiier kicked off a .5+ dense wind slab (15-20cm crown) near the “choke” on skiers left. 3 photos Summit Creek Size 3 Yukon: White Pass West, 1 day ago Observation We witnessed this avalanche today while out with an AST group on Summit Creek Knoll from about 5km away. Can't confirm trigger but Natural is unlikely. I suspect this was remotely triggered by recreational groups in the area or from a cornice failure. 1 photos Sky pilot area South Coast: Sky Pilot, 1 day ago Observation No signs of recent avalanche activity today. Conditions were variable, wind effected and sun effected some some patches of OK snow. We skied towards sky pilot and down the one of the large chutes below stadium glacier. Some hoar frost was noticeable in tree areas on the valley up. 4 photos Silver King Ridge Kootenay Boundary: Ymir, 1 day ago Observation 3 laps up to the silver king ridge today. We encountered quite variable conditions - wind slabs, icy crusts under varying amounts of snow and the occasional soft powdery section. We occasionally has small area where windslabs shattered and slid short distances. 2 photos Lyle Lake South Columbia: Retallack, 1 day ago Observation Went for a walk up to Lyle Lakes. Got there at 1:30. On the way up we did hand shear tests that showed a surface hoar crust 30cms down. Dug a pit at 2050m. An extended column test produced a non propagating surface hoar layer down 30cms after 18 compressions on the January 21 layer. 2 photos MacPhearson South Columbia: Gold, 1 day ago Observation MacPhearson summit via the west ridge. Avoided wind-loaded slopes in the alpine. No signs of instability in the trees. Snow quality good between 1500 and 2200m. 1 photos IAG AST2 - Mt Brooks Vancouver Island: East Island, 1 day ago Observation Island Alpine Guides AST 2 field day out to Mt Brooks. No recent avalanche activity or signs of instability, which isn't ideal for an avalanche course, but we had great weather and nice views into bigger alpine of the park. Surface hoar growth to 10mm was observed from 1100m right to ridgetop. Raft mountain tree ride Cariboos: Clearwater, 1 day ago Observation Enjoyed a good day in the trees where the snow is less wind affected. These two natural avalanches would have came down later afternoon on Jan 28…glad to see no tracks in either spot. 5 photos Torpy North Rockies: McGregor, 1 day ago Observation Sunny but cold day on Torpy. Mostly dust on crust down low (1100-1600m) gradually transforming to a wind affected powder/scoured ice up higher (1600-1800m). Best skiing right around 1500-1700m 3 photos Evening Ridge/Hummingbird Kootenay Boundary: Ymir, 1 day ago Observation Toured up Evening Ridge around the back through Hummingbird Pass. Skied trees and a few mellow openings towards the bottom. Top 200m and bottom 100m were nice and soft, middle could feel the crust more. Grizzly Glades 1 day ago Observation Rode mellow terrain in Grizzly Glades 10-15cm new snow skied well, no signs of instability. Some reverse loading from northerly winds. Slab overlying basal facets was more cohesive than it has been in recent weeks Performed compression test on SE aspect at 2370m. 29 degree slope angle. HS 110cm. 2 photos AST 2 Mammoth Lizard-Flathead: Lizard, 1 day ago Observation We travelled from Lost Boys up to the shoulder of Mammoth and then skied back down and up to Lost Boys. It was a clear, cold day with light wind. Surprisingly pleasant given the temperature. Heavily wind affected snow surface at all elevations and surface faceting. 2 photos
