Duffey
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 27th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Storm Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 25th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 23rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 22nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 20th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 17th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 15th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 14th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 13th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 11th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 10th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 9th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 8th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 6th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 5th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 3rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 2nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 1st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Wind Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Feb 27th, 2025Fluffy Duffy
Had a great exploration day up the basin to the East of Peak 2318 (Darkside Peak) near Steep Creek.
Amazing skiing in the alpine with 30cm+ of new snow on N/NW aspects. We avoided anything steep or convex as we observed many natural size 1/1.5 slides, primarily on N/NE convexities. They appeared to have slid near the end of the last storm on the Dec 31st crust. Crowns varied from 10cm to 30cm depending on when during the storm it let go.
graham.david.henry,
Sunday 7th January, 2024 7:10PM
Rohr Trees
Skied some of the tree runs around Rohr Lake. Between 30-40cm of fresh snow. The snow quality great, but snow is still very thin below 1700m, and many spots were not passable due to boulders, trees or small creeks.
GReifel,
Saturday 6th January, 2024 9:50PM
Casper north bowls
We went and poked around the north bowls of mt Casper today and found excellent riding conditions, that will only get better as snow settles. Fsr access was good but any skin tracks across creeks and through the forest are still challenging but doable. Once the snow on the trees falls to the floor forest skinning will improve significantly.
20-30cm of dry snow fell at the road with up to 45cm higher up. Multiple sz1 avalanches naturally triggered at various stages of last night's storm were observable in the north facing bowl we skied.
We experienced some whumphing, all around creek beds between 15-1700m.
mblandford95,
Saturday 6th January, 2024 9:40PM
Joffrey lake to Tsizil mountian saddle
I am not sure how OK and Terrible is on the scale. But this trip was basically just hiking on ski, not skiing. So based the report on that.
Skiing was pretty bad on wind-affected slopes.
Skining up is possible from the parking lot but on an ice-covered very thin layer of snow. A good amount of rocks are on the way to the third lake.
From the third lake in the direction to the saddle, there is a pretty tough way to get through the forest and boulder field. Trees on the grounds, are sometimes difficult to get over creeks and boulders.
Going down is better with skins on. Sking down is pretty hard. And get close to impossible under form the 2nd lake down. From the second lake, we put on crampons and walked back down.
dkaplos32,
Saturday 6th January, 2024 9:40AM
Lazy Boy
Lots of fresh powder today, and temps were much colder than a few days ago. Snow was dry and fluffy in the forest. Once we reached the alpine we found significant wind loading - some sections super deep and some very thin and icy/rocky. There was some fracturing in the deeper snow as we traversed up but no signs of recent avalanches and nothing shifted as we skied down. Snow is still very thin in most places and all fresh powder is still sitting on a very hard and icy crust.
andreamtate,
Friday 5th January, 2024 7:00PM
Steep Creek
carsonmjw27,
Friday 5th January, 2024 10:20AM
Cayoosh cabin
Open areas had about 20cm of dry and fluffy powder over top of a pretty icy crust. Snow is still thin in treed areas and you can see down to the ground in most tree wells. It’s skiable but not anything to write home about.
andreamtate,
Thursday 4th January, 2024 9:20AM
East Duffy
Boot-top champagne powder on a supportive base above ~1800m in the east duffy. Below that is crusty mayhem. Travel through treeline terrain is treaturous.
FSR snow coverage starting at the hwy but icy.
Planning a route with efficient travel through to the alpine combined with good visibility is key to getting to the good skiing.
HS between 45-70cm @ 2000m on NW 25deg slope. 122023 MFCr is apparent but thin, with seemingly 4F/Facets snow above and below from probing.
Winds Nil to Light-SW throughout the day at ridge top. No significant signs of wind transport.
SA sz1 windslab on a steep convex roll below ridge top, NW 2100m. ~20cm crown, soft slab. No propagation across entire width of roll nor signs of stepping down. Skier was able to easily cut out to safety from the path. See photos 3 & 4
No signs of instability on planar slopes.
jndm120,
Tuesday 2nd January, 2024 8:50AM
Touchy Conditions at Tszil
Forest to the lakes was terrible, icy enough to use crampons. Crossed the 3rd lake, though in the middle of the night. Above was dust on crust, but enough to enjoy. See snow/avy tabs for danger signs on the alpine steeps
tarfeef101,
Monday 1st January, 2024 12:20PM
Suffering at Cerise Creek
Abandoned Nye trip to Keith's. The skin in was mostly a boot pack through the forest and then a skin across the slide followed by more boot packing all over isothermic snow with a thick crust. Heavy rain on the 30th on the way out.
We observed many size 1 wet loose avalanches on north facing Lee slopes.
The snow we did ride was very heavy and very wet.
The temperatures were warm and freezing level was at the hut (1450m?).
Tested snowpack buy jumping on unsupported lips on boulders in the alpine, had to put alot of weight into the jump, but when it did slide, revealed a layer of large sugary snow, approx 12" down. Test done by the morraine.
rhodges179,
Monday 1st January, 2024 12:00PM
Hanging Lake
Significant whumphing throughout the day. Cooled down progressively throughout the day to -5deg C at 2300m at 2:00pm. Wind increased with increasing cloud and trace snowfall. At 1900m HS: ~120-150cm with ~50cm HST. Hand shears failed RP down 50cm on faceted crust. Several crust layers present and seemingly not as thick as S2S region. Several sz1 na loose dry or wind slab avalanches in steep N facing terrain.
swskier,
Thursday 28th December, 2023 7:30PM
Xmas Wendy Thompson
Spent a few days at Wendy Thompson over christmas.
Access is tricky. A few creek crossing on the FSR. Icy and less than ideal coverage at treeline, makes for a spicy exit. Lake is crossable.
Snow was very good above / near the hut. Coverage is decent considering the slow start of the winter. Lots of boulders still hanging out. We skied the east facing slopes west of the hut and had some great turns.
No signs of instability although there was rapid warming on the morning of the 25th. Crossing the lake back to the trailhead, noticed that the south west facing slopes were pretty wind affected from the 25/26 snow / storm with heavy winds.
nicolas.2,
Wednesday 27th December, 2023 9:40AM
Hanging Lake
HS 90cm at 1950m
Crusts down 30cm and 45cm.
Lots of whumpfing in the meadows at treeline.
HS ~40cm at 1750m.
dfgault,
Tuesday 26th December, 2023 8:10PM
Keiths Hut (ish
We didn’t get to any skiing today (stopped around 1300m). There are 6+ creek crossings that are yet to be filled in along the vantage peak trail. Travel through treeline is very icy and muddy.. A hasty pit at 1300m SW face revealed a 60cm snowpack with 10cm + of very dense snow on top of pencil powder. We opted to bootpack through treeline and definitely wont be back till we get some substantial snow!
cayleighvans,
Sunday 24th December, 2023 4:30PM
Variable Conditions and Low Coverage
Treed trails toward Keith's is skinnable but not skiable, got icy on sunday on the lower half. Above the hut towards vantage, we found open slopes to be a few cm of thin slab on a hard+stable crust. Open trees were heavy/wet powder, alpine slopes were more of the thin slab+crust, wind-deposits in sheltered areas were drier and skied okay, convex spots were icy, summit ridge was hard sastrugi. some small avy debris from wet releases in the alpine bowls, cornices were small
tarfeef101,
Tuesday 19th December, 2023 9:30AM
Wendy thompson
Skiing up to cabin we took the summer route because we were worried about the lake conditions. On the way back we went to check the lake and decided to go across. No problem.
We did a snow pit in NW, 35deg slope and we found the surface hoar about 30cm with soft snow on the top and weak layer underneath. In the snow block test the first 30cm collapsed R2-with approach and then the low weak layer 70cm deep collapsed with first jump. It was warming up during the day and drizzling.
In general there was not enough snow in the area and the ski out was a hard work.
coufalovanikol,
Saturday 16th December, 2023 6:20PM
WTH
After staying at the WTH from Friday night to Sunday morning we made some general notes for the area:
-crusty layer consistent from 1300m to 1900m buried beneath 5-10cm of fresh storm slab/wind slab
-Friday night cold temps surface hoar present, possibly buried/ destroyed by Saturday afternoon winds
- Sunday morning warm temps/ fresh snow made skinning VERY difficult due to stickiness, layers sliding
-granular snow consistently present beneath crust
-decided to abandon any attempts at decent skiing due to obvious instability between the newly deposited snow.
-many creeks and holes still exposed due to low snow
Would advise against skiing in the area until the snowpack has stabilized and some of the hazards have filled in
mrjosephdimatteo,
Sunday 10th December, 2023 9:40PM
Wendy Thompson
Skied a little from the WendyT hut last weekend. The snow (1500-1900) was cold, dry, and faceted through its depth. Superhero ski pow actually (N, E, and flats), except the rocks were very close by. Major ski hazard. Sharp rocks hiding frequently just below the surface of the light snow. Core shots and tripping hazard were a total roll of the dice. My shark tolerance is much higher than average and I still called it quits after skiing one short line (a filled-in gully near HoneyBronze). No sign of natural avy activity. Minor reactions on small steep&convex features. It was hard to judge the total depth amongst rocky terrain, but my feeling from a couple shabby pits was roughly 60 cm base depth, seemingly homogenous and sugary all the way down. I fear a lingering basel-facet issue but look forward to better analysis. The water hole (stream) in front of the hut is easily accessible. And the alpine lake was well frozen. Oh and skins on easily from the car. Wonder how the Dec 4th rain will have changed things. Good luck!
Steffen LT,
Friday 8th December, 2023 11:20AM
Steep creek 1950m
Peter Wojnar,
Friday 8th December, 2023 10:20AM
Not Enuff in the Duff
With high freezing levels and heavy precipitation in the forecast, we headed to the Duffey in hopes of staying dry.
Our goal was to get to Keith’s hut, but rugged travel conditions turned us around. It does look like some hardy folks have made it up! About 10 cm of snow on the ground at the parking lot (1200 m) grew to 40 to 50 cm by our turn around point (1550 m). It’s still super thin and there’s just not enough of a base to keep vegetation down which made for challenging skinning.
It snowed consistently through out the day , and was raining at 1200 m by the time we left around 2 pm. There was roughly 10 to 20 cm of recent storm snow on top of the November drought layer. We did find very large (15 to 20mm) surface hoar in the Boulder fields below Mt. Joffre below the storm snow. This was a super sheltered area below treeline, so may not be representative of higher elevation terrain. But definitely something to have on the radar right now!
Overall the Duffy is just gonna need some more snow before the skiing gets reasonable. Good day to get for a walk and get a baseline!
AVCAN FORECASTER,
Monday 4th December, 2023 3:20PM
Joffre Triple Crown
<p>No stuffing for 40-50cm of dry unconsolidated powder. </p>
bluebery,
Wednesday 19th April, 2023 11:00PM
Blowdown slide paths Sz 2 Sa
haolekook,
Wednesday 19th April, 2023 8:30PM
Blowdown Zone
<p>Took a lap in the Blowdown Zone this morning. Up to 20 cm of recent storm snow over crust on all but northerly aspects skied like a velvety dream. Supportive melt freeze crust all aspects below ~ 1500 m had become moist and sticky by 1 PM. There were a few recent natural size 1 loose, dry sloughs out of steep, cliffy north facing treeline terrain and a brief lunchtime squall started moving some snow around at ridgetop but no slabs were found. Giddy up! Sorry no pics.</p>
Fudge E. Oh,
Wednesday 19th April, 2023 5:50PM
A windy day on Rohr
<p>Marriot basin trail and turn-off up to Rohr lake made for fast travel - compact / icy. From Rohr lake all the way up the basin was firm sun crust. We gained the west ridge of Rohr and we’re met with much stronger than expected winds at 1800m (50-60kph). Fairly significant snow transport had already formed 10-15cm soft slab on N / NW facing lees. This was reactive on micro features to skier load but wasn’t propagating significantly. Protected mellow north facing slopes skied pretty well. Not as much new snow as expected through the day on Saturday (trace). Best snow of the day was found in the pillows from Rohr lake back down to the exit road</p>
tompatmore1,
Sunday 16th April, 2023 8:30AM
Chief Pascal area
<p>First min ever, I'm not so sure what to say but here; There was no wind today on Chief Pascal despite the forecast calling for ~30km winds. Day was overall pretty sunny, snow was really good in the morning and got heavier throughout the day. We didn't see any signs of instability. Great day out.</p>
ccote,
Friday 14th April, 2023 10:00PM
Ski traverse plan b
<p>Conditions report over the last 4 days in the Duffey in the Cerise Ck. Area.
04/12 skied Vantage N face, Vantage sub peak N chutes, Sunset couloir
04/14 attempted Matier NE, plan B skied Slalok N.</p>
liimujared,
Friday 14th April, 2023 5:40PM
Reactive Storm Slabs
Conor Hurley,
Wednesday 12th April, 2023 11:00PM
Lazy Boy Avalance
johngill2527,
Monday 10th April, 2023 3:50PM
Windy Day in the Duff
<p>Awesome but very windy day in the Duffy. Original plan was to ski the Twin One couloir. When approaching to the col, we experienced extreme gusts of wind (~90kph) and decided to look for more sheltered skiing
We saw a ton of snow movement due to wind, and slab formation. We weren't able to trigger any larger slides with propagation, only point sluffing from the skier
We then descended down the NE couloir from Motel 66, which was a bit more sheltered. The couloir had a ~15cm wind slab throughout however we weren't able to get this to move with ski cutting. The couloir skied excellent</p>
jackdcasey,
Sunday 9th April, 2023 12:20AM
Steep Creek Area
<p>Widespread melt freeze up to 1950m on all aspects. Isolated wind slabs above 2000m, unreactive to ski cuts. Decent skiing on N aspects above 2000m. </p>
matthewtbuda,
Saturday 8th April, 2023 3:50PM
Matier via Anniversary Glacier
<p>We got lucky with a window of visibility as we approached the summit. The ski down was decent. The snow ranged from heavy-ish dry powder, to crusty but still very skiable coming down the glacier. No signs of instability, except for the usual sloughing as we skied slopes steeper than 45 degrees. </p>
ViewSeeker,
Wednesday 5th April, 2023 12:10PM
Saxifrage
<p>Skied up to Saxifrage col. Repeated loud whumpfing on steep slopes and windslab present in alpine on south eastward/ lee slopes. No propagation or avalanches witnessed.</p>
Lkay,
Tuesday 4th April, 2023 7:20PM
Phenomenal long weekend at Duffey
<p>Excellent 3 days at Duffey. On Saturday we skied the storm snow from the summit of Tszil. Sunday was Cayoosh from the summit down the N glacier (it seems that 1M$ couloir got skied by many - we decided against skied out snow). Monday was Slalok from the summit mushroom. 2 of us skied the couloir system skiers right, 2 others went for the main tube.
We found no issues with wind effect/wind slab and every N facing turn in the alpine was perfect. The only exception was a 10m section or wind slab on the ridge right below the Slalok summit mushroom. </p>
gsuleta,
Monday 3rd April, 2023 5:50PM
Chute 56
<p>We were heading up to Stoop Chutes but due to winds coming from the South West, we found those to be quite wind loaded at the top so we avoided the terrain and decided to ride chute 56 out. Cold conditions made for some very powdery snow on top of a melt-freeze crust. All in all the snowpack was consolidated with some exceptions on the way up from the hut to the top of the chute, mostly in the trees. We got some deep turns in the glades trees from about 2000m down to 1600m, whereafter it got a little crunchy but still enjoyable all the way out to the skintrack.</p>
joris.janssen87,
Saturday 1st April, 2023 8:40PM
Cassiope
<p>SA size .5 wind slab on N aspect just at base of Cassiope summit head wall. Partial burial no injury. Interesting slab formed against base of rock wall by winds pushing snow up slope. 5 cm crown but up to 50 cm deep in places. Only ran 50’ but enough to sweep skier off feet and partially bury. </p>
sierra.laflamme,
Tuesday 28th March, 2023 10:30PM
Darkside North Aspect
<p>We skied northern alpine aspects off Darkside Peak. The morning was extremely sunny so we backed off anything solar or corniced. We found 20cm of creamy/silky powder 2100-1800m on a harder crust.
When we bootpacked the ridge we noticed the snowpack was pretty rotten all the way to the ground: unconsolidated/isothermal with a thick bottom layer of facets. We stayed away from any shallower start zones.
Clouds came in midday and we got 2-5cm of new snow. Throughout the day we noticed numerous wet loose sz1-2.5 that looked to be at least a few days old. (See pictures) Below 1800m we found a hard breakable crust that made for tough turns. </p>
gabrielrobinsonleith,
Sunday 26th March, 2023 10:10PM
Skied like Saudans
<p>skied Million Dollar Coulor, overcast skys in the morning led to full sun on the glacier by noon. After cresting the ridge at the top of Cayoosh we descended in fog down to the top of the couloir where the visibility opened up considerably.
Glacier was becoming wet and heavy powder by midday, although north-facing slopes still hold good snow. </p>
gilbert.pjb,
Sunday 26th March, 2023 8:30PM
Slalok/Matier Glacier
<p>Skied on Matier glacier & Slalok. Visibility generally poor with associated challenges surmounting the icefall. Higher snowfall than forecasted for the region. HST 20cm above 2000m. Up to 50cm in lee features. Moderate resistant planar results on this interface. Cold smoke concealed a few sharks on the Slalok north face. Excellent white room skiing on the glacier. Numerous wet loose observed solar aspects up to 2200m.</p>
qturner,
Friday 24th March, 2023 3:00PM
Mt. Chief Pascal
<p>Warm sunny day in the Duffy's. Most of the climb was spent wearing a t-shirt. Skin track up was hard and crusty due to freeze thaw cycles so crampons are recommended.
We descended at a small couloir because the skin tracks to Mt. Chief Pascal on the steep, south-facing slope were icy and since we did not have crampons, we determined it was too risky. The snow in the alpine was light and fluffy powder, however, once we descended to treeline the snow was denser due to partial melting.</p>
markgrant709,
Wednesday 22nd March, 2023 11:20AM
Joffre group
<p>Spent 4 of the last 5 days in the Joffre area. N faces holding good snow. E aspect provided good corn skiing midday.
Twin One glacier has numerous difficulties.
On a shallow rocky S slope just below ridge line(2500m) we had a large whoomf and settlement </p>
seatoskyjamie,
Wednesday 22nd March, 2023 12:00AM
Chief Pascall
<p>Great day out on Mount Chief Pascall. Snow above ~1600 m on the N/NE aspects was quite nice. Bring them ski crampons for the morning. </p>
stokesy135,
Tuesday 21st March, 2023 11:00PM
Wendy T, Marriott Basin Day 2
<p>- Morning high cloud ceiling (above 2300m) burned off into full strong solar
- Soft breakable crust on N/NE slopes
- 11am skied E facing open slope from 1880 to 1720m, ~30 degrees, thin sun crust to soft/heavy underneath. Snow quality lighter & crust-free in the dense sheltered trees just above the trail
- Temps warmed in the afternoon… exited the basin hot & happy
- Additional pinwheeling but witnessed no further obvious signs of avalanche activity</p>
nlaflamme,
Monday 20th March, 2023 1:50PM
Mt Taylor - South to North
<p>Slick snow through trees up Joffrey Lakes trail turned to cold snow after upper Joffrey Lake and through to the shaded ascent to the col between Tzil and Taylor. Snow on south side of Taylor was not pinwheeling during our noon ascent time and solar crust was still intact. Snow in descent off north face of South Mt Taylor summit was powder on top of wind pressed snow. Snow in descent off north face of North Mt Taylor summit was deep and powdery, and second skier let loose two small sluffs (max 80 m by 5 m; see photo). Snow in exit trees was very warm and heavy with large pinwheels and tree bombs. Surprisingly good exit with ok spacing in the trees and no solar crust. Snow along road was dirty, wet, and annoying. Beautiful day with great views and dreamy steep descents. </p>
SheSkisSteep,
Sunday 19th March, 2023 5:20PM
Mount Rohr
<p>Great day out, snow skied really well, creamy texture in the sun, and shaded slopes had great powder skiing. Snow was heavy below lake elevation</p>
Michelle Hanna,
Sunday 19th March, 2023 3:30PM
Tszil mt and glacier
<p>20 to 30 cm dry powder on tszil glacier. Riding quality was a dream. Sun crust in some areas further down. Pretty windy at times such that the skin track would be fully filled in after 1h. </p>
LuJo,
Sunday 12th March, 2023 9:20PM
Lazy Boy
<p>CTH 22 down 25 RP. SHM down 63 on RGsr 1.0. Point releases to sz 1 on solar asp from extreme terrain. -2 C in the PM BTL, S-1, OVC, C. Slopes skied up to 30 deg were not reactive to ski testing.</p>
leslenas,
Sunday 12th March, 2023 7:40PM
Tszil Na wind slab
banderson,
Saturday 11th March, 2023 7:00PM
ACMG Ski Guide Exam - Duffey Lake Area
Geoff Osler,
Friday 10th March, 2023 10:45PM
Sloughing on Slalok
<p>Heavy sloughing in the high alpine on slalok</p>
fhinckley16,
Tuesday 7th March, 2023 7:30PM
CAA L2 Assesment Field Trip
<p>The major observation of the day was evidence of previous crossloading on South facing aspects at treeline from Easterly winds. The avalanche from the photo is old, see March 4th min. We dug pits just below and across from the slide and found no reactive layers in the upper 150cm. Crust/FC combo down 120-150cm.
Of note, a thin sun crust is forming on solar aspects. Lots of preserved powder, get after it!</p>
marcuswybrow,
Tuesday 7th March, 2023 5:40PM