Kootenay Boundary
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Storm Slabs, Cornices.
Published: Mar 27th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Storm Slabs, Cornices.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet, Cornices.
Published: Mar 25th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 23rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 22nd, 2025Lightning Laps
Another incredible day at Kootenay pass. We did two laps on the south side of lightning strike, and one down the north facing saddle of lightning strike.
As for instability, we generally did not encounter any on our ski lines. We did set off some very small slabs on one slope which was south west facing, steep, and rocky. We also noted some natural sloughing on some very steep slopes.
Definitely some new cornice formation and plenty of wind affected snow to be found on ridge tops.
TheViewSeeker,
Saturday 22nd March, 2025 12:00PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 20th, 2025Deep, but reactive!
Fantastic riding in the Whitewater backcountry. We kept it mellow, riding open tree hallways and (trying) to stay away from steeper convexities. One rider went for a short ride after popping a side 1 storm slab (see incident).
robin.mazenc,
Thursday 20th March, 2025 3:15PM
Kootenay Pass conditions
Overall good skiing at KP. South and west facing slopes sun affected producing heavy snow and surface crusts. A few natural releases observed on the most sun-exposed slopes. North and east facing slopes had much better snow quality.
shsmith,
Thursday 20th March, 2025 2:00PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 19th, 2025The storm slabs are slabbing
Spent the day riding some sweet lines behind White Queen. Snow quality was amazing but we saw significant signs of storm slab activity and triggered a few sluff layers in steeper areas, as well as noted some fracture lines on convex slopes. The most significant observation was made during our skin out where we spotted a large (~20cm) crown on a fairly mellow convex slope near the ridge. It appeared to be skier triggered and likely happened a day or two previous as we didn’t see/hear anybody else in the area today. Stay vigilant out there, the riding is great but it can be spicy!
kmsmolik,
Wednesday 19th March, 2025 12:00PM
Amazing day on Evening Ridge North East
Nice powder day (20 cm on a smooth base). We did two runs on the North East side and one on the South West one where the snow started slowly to transform. No avalanche sign under the treeline. Base very stable.
fred.massicotte,
Wednesday 19th March, 2025 10:00AM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Ski cut, cookie and !WHUMPH!
Great skiing in Kutetl and Five Mile Basin. One ski cut size 1 storm slab, one small cookie between tracks, and an apocalyptic feeling whumph that dropped so much it almost left us running in mid air like Wiley Coyote.
Backcountry Learning,
Tuesday 18th March, 2025 10:30AM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 17th, 2025Trash Chutes Storm Slab
garlicsprout,
Monday 17th March, 2025 2:00PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Bird Queen Storm Slab
Got pulled into a pitch of steeper terrain and kicked off a storm slab on a SW aspect at a steep, thin convexity just below 1800m. Storm snow moved cleanly on the previous surface crust, but no stepping down. No one carried or buried. Other riders in the parking lot noting similar experiences. Storm snow otherwise skiing beautifully on mellow terrain on top of the former solar crust on W/SW facing slopes.
jonnyhepburn,
Sunday 16th March, 2025 1:30PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 15th, 2025Poppier than pop corn
Very poppy out there. Lots of 1-1.5 off small features. We stayed any from anything consequential, but had a lot of small avalanches off steeper or convex features, slightly open slopes, etc.
melinda.k.weston,
Saturday 15th March, 2025 11:00AM
Cornice Ridge
Spent the past two days skiing off of the E/SE side of Cornice Ridge. The recent storm deposited up to 40cm of new snow appearing to be right side up with progressive resistance above a firm (P-K) melt/freeze crust. Another crust exists approximately 70cm down in the snowpack with the remainder of the pack appearing to be well settled.
Just after 1200 today, winds began to gust into the strong range (were light gusting to moderate this morning) with significant wind transport. On our final lap at 1300, we noticed up to 20cm of additional load in immediate ridge top lees with all tracks from previous laps covered. When we returned to ridge top at 1430, we observed cracking 5m in front and behind our skis. We avoided steep, unsupported features on our ski out with the rapid loading and lack of visibility.
Overall, incredible ski conditions with terrain selection being the name of the game right now. Tomorrow could be a little interesting with the recent new snow and mod-strong winds from this afternoon.
flagler.grant,
Saturday 15th March, 2025 9:00AM
Storm skiing kootenay pass
CMcf,
Saturday 15th March, 2025 12:00AM
Ripple Ridge
Light ridgetop winds, no active transport. Trace precip during day, intermittent sun- no warming.
Bits of Wind packed effect on ridgetop, S aspect. Observed Little to no wind load on Northerlys, less than expected.
Isolated cracking in HN between ski tracks.
NE asp. ~2100m near ridgetop, right side up snowpack, top 25cm F,F+ Hard, CT 3 RP ECTN 4 down 25cm.
Thin (P hard, 0.5cm< thick) crust down 40cm w 4F above and 1F hard below. CT12 BRK, ECTN 14 down 40cm.
mkrmp,
Friday 14th March, 2025 6:00PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 14th, 2025InBounds unexpected ride
Pepper,
Friday 14th March, 2025 10:15AM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 13th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 11th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 10th, 2025Pretty firm
Skied into the area between The Crags and Baldy Rocks today. Solar aspects were crusty with some dust on top. For the non solar aspects, anything out in the open was pretty firm wind buff. Skiing on this wind buff was mostly supportive but you could break through the top layer unexpectedly. In denser trees where the wind was less of a factor and no sun had ever kissed the surface the wind buff was softer and made for enjoyable skiing. No signs of instability on our tour. Winds ranged from strong and gusty to non-existent. Mostly sunny but the snow didn’t get sticky.
jimn,
Monday 10th March, 2025 11:00AM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 9th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 8th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 6th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 5th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 3rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 2nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 1st, 2025Whales back
vidamarina999,
Saturday 1st March, 2025 1:30PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 27th, 2025Cornice Ridge
Not as warm as forecast (high of -1) potentially due to the continuous cold wind. We rode North facing slopes and discovered a 15cm slab that had released within the last 24hrs off cornice ridge. Our pit, on NE slope, showed a very bonded snowpack to 2meters.
donovan_cavers,
Thursday 27th February, 2025 11:00AM
Buzz’s Ridge Natural
liambrinkley95,
Monday 24th February, 2025 12:00PM
The Red Devil You Know
Day 3 on Baldy Rocks skiing the same slope the weekend crowd did as well bc its sketchy out there! Vis was better today so got a good glipse of crowns from the natuaral avi cycle bound to happen all around here. Yesterday was a heavy mass to carve, and I feared a nasty breakable crust after an overnight freeze for today, but the wind smashed it all into a consolidation that held me up well. Yet, I did hear a thundering out Mufgin's way that coulda been a big natural slide. And my thermometer read 5 degrees at the summit, with lots of tree bombs dropped, so I didnt stick around for the afternoon. Also a good size propogation slide on western slopes of baldy rocks, you can see hiking up, must have happened over night or yesterday.
hartshorn.bradley,
Monday 24th February, 2025 9:00AM
AST Feb 23 2025
sarab.wilson,
Sunday 23rd February, 2025 6:00PM
Storm Slab Avalanche
samk1124,
Sunday 23rd February, 2025 3:00PM
Pop Goes the Wind/Storm Slab
Found 10-30cm consolidated storm and wind slabs across North and East aspects sitting on a supportive crust.
We were able to experience and replicate sudden pops and small controlled releases on lower angle convex rollers, test slopes, and in hand pits across several locations.
adam.k,
Sunday 23rd February, 2025 12:00PM
Natural avalanches
We went for a small run before heading back to town. Saw few sizes 0.5 to 1 avalanches on our walk to Baldy. All were on convex rolls or steep terrain with cliffs above. Wet looses avalanches on south east side. As soon as we were on the ridge and venture more into the west side, the snow was whumfing and craking. Lots of wind on the west side, wind slabs were forming. About 40cm of new snow in the last 48h.
gegebras,
Sunday 23rd February, 2025 10:00AM
Bombi familiarization ride
We rode extremely conservative terrain (30*>)
observed pinwheeling, tree bombs, and a hollow sounding snowpack.
windward slopes had a 1cm breakable wind crust.
Mashed potato snow but good riding overall.
dillon.granstrom,
Sunday 23rd February, 2025 10:00AM
Avalanch
hartshorn.bradley,
Saturday 22nd February, 2025 11:00PM
Grassy Hut
Spent 2 nights at the grassy hut. Skinned in Feb 19, moderate to heavy snowfall the entire day. Spent the day Feb 20 riding mellow treed slopes around the hut. We decided to be conservative based on our field observations of small shooting cracks, new loading the previous day, easy column test results, and the persistent slab problem. We found the snowpack to be more reactive on steep open slopes at treeline than in the alpine, possibly due to warming at lower elevations. Lots of powdery fun snowboarding and skiing! Another great reading week at the Grassy Hut!
jasminehdd,
Thursday 20th February, 2025 10:00AM
Cabin Peak
Had a fun first run down ridge off cabin peak back to huckleberry through the trees and into main drainage exit. Snow was crusty on top with nice pow underneath, fast crunchy and fun.
Second run was straight up from huckleberry through the trees on the SE slope. At just under 1700m moving out into a more open slope with a much former pack than the trees, we heard a loud wumph, with no visible cracks or drop in the snow. We thought it may have been a tree bomb but found no evidence of such. We moved back into the trees where we heard another smaller wumph and made the decision to turn back and ski the tighter trees back to the service road.
We did a hand shear on a small steeper micro feature near where we heard the second wumph and found it broke with moderate force at 55cm on what seemed to be buried facets (maybe surface hoar idk I'm not a snow scientist) either way it was enough to say let's GTFO and have a beer at the hut.
Other observations are that the temps have been rising today was holding around 0 with some fluctuations depending on the area and wind exposure. Winds were very light.
Be safe out there.
calhamnorthway,
Thursday 20th February, 2025 8:30AM
Cornice Ridge
Sun crust on top of storm snow, some previous cracking observed on convex rolls.
Nice turns, good visibility.
cassie.gibbons.photography,
Wednesday 19th February, 2025 10:00AM
East Peak
rssmacleod,
Monday 17th February, 2025 11:00AM
Big White Backcountry - 02/17/2025 - "dreamy pow"
Had a great day in the backcountry riding pow in the Big White backcountry. Fresh snow made for great riding conditions. We did experience some small loose-dry slides on steeper terrain with fresh low-density snow, specifically on the east-facing slopes of East Peak.
condog.dev,
Monday 17th February, 2025 10:00AM
Back of Gem
We saw no signs of instability as we skiied back of gem. Great powder.
emily.noonan222,
Monday 17th February, 2025 10:00AM
Villi Slab
wesley.bennett22,
Sunday 16th February, 2025 12:00PM
Baldy boii
Notices Natural sluffing, and whimphing, re routes due to sluffing and large sluff in steep terrain
lauratimm111,
Sunday 16th February, 2025 12:00PM
Red Mountain Sidecountry
We toured around the red mountain backcountry (Robert’s, kirkup). Sings of warming, heavy snow in top and roller balls.
remococco,
Saturday 15th February, 2025 12:00PM
Side of Gem
We saw no signs of instability as we explored the side of Gem. Nice powder near the top and heavier near the bottom.
emily.noonan222,
Saturday 15th February, 2025 9:23AM
Hummingbird Pass
No whumpfing, can see after math from Evening Ridge Avalanche from a few days ago.
Very nice powdery snow. Started off with sunshine and ended with scattered snow.
taylorjaren16,
Saturday 15th February, 2025 9:00AM
Remote trigger on Evening Ridge
blairday87,
Wednesday 12th February, 2025 12:00PM
Cornice ridge kootenay pass
No Whumpfing, cracking, signs of recent avalanches or snow instability observed. Suncrust starting to form at the end of the day on the south facing aspects and cold faceted snow on all other aspects. We made conservative decisions and stuck to mellower terrain.
nathansteele3013,
Wednesday 12th February, 2025 11:00AM
Rossland Range S and N skiing
Skied S Elgood and N Plewman today.
South aspects had a variable crust either on top or under 10 cms.
Skied N aspects in open trees. Snow quality holding up well in sheltered areas. Less sheltered areas had some wind effect. No signs of instability.
fjkinnear,
Sunday 9th February, 2025 12:00PM
New South Crusts
Skied Baldy rocks and Crags south today. Snow quality is holding up well from the snow last weekend except steep south open slopes where we found a new surface crust formed yesterday 07 Feb. No signs of instability.
fjkinnear,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 12:00PM
KP Day #4
Cornice/Missile/Buzz’s.
Skied NW, SE, and SW aspects between 1700-2100m’s. S1 -> S2 throughout the majority of the day. Temps steady around -10. Ski-pen between 30-50cms. Variable snow in exposed alpine slopes; we saw scouring, solar crusts, and wind slab in isolated, immediate lees. Hero snow was found in sheltered terrain.
pauwels.justin,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 9:30AM
KP Day #3
Skied SE and SW aspects on the first bump to the west of The Crags. Fantastic 200m runs to the road. Temps steady around -11. Notable increase in consolidation within storm snow. Within areas travelled, no signs of instability or surprises. Flurries throughout the day with some isolated sunny breaks. No wind.
Test pit: 2090m E aspect, 30 degrees, ECTX. 40cms of snow (F -> 1F) overlies a stout sun crust.
pauwels.justin,
Thursday 6th February, 2025 11:00AM
Bonnington Traverse
Bonnington traverse Feb 2-6 trip report. TL:DR – 10/10 snow, 1/10 trail breaking, we brought too much food and booze for the slog, lots of signs of instability, no big slides noted, it is full winter up there, and tarrifs suck.
A motley crew of Canadians and Americans from the Coast and PNW completed the Bonnington traverse over the past few days from Feb 2-6. Dubbed the Anti Tariff Traverse, we were the first group through after the last storm cycle.
HS ranged from 190cms at Grassy hut to 300 cms plus at Copper. 10-20 cms of fist density snow from the past few nights of convective activity sits on 30-80 cms 4 finger storm/soft slab, depending on elevation/aspect.
Daily test pits showed a significant crust facet interface down 20-40 cms on south/west slopes at treeline, and varied crust/hoar interfaces down 40-80cms on N and E slopes at and below treeline. Temperatures were moderate, ranging from -5 on Weds the 5 afternoon to -15 overnight.
Serial compression tests revealed easy to moderate failures, mostly sudden collapse, on the aforementioned interfaces. There was significant whoomphing and cracking underfoot on wind affected ridge lines above treeline, and even more significant evidence of instability in clearings below treeline, where the surface hoar was the most significant. We had shooting cracks out 20-30 meters from us, especially on the NW aspect of Copper mtn. A careful ski from the summit, on supported terrain features, however, was stellar!
We had planned to ski some of the steeper lines on Siwash and Commonwealth, but elected to keep it mellower and enjoy the absolutely stellar tree skiing. Snow quality was all time, with a few cms of cold smoke nightly on top of the previous, now well settled storm snow.
Other than isolated point releases on steep solar aspects, we saw no natural avalanche activity until Feb 5, when we noted a size 1.5 natural off of the NW aspect of Commonwealth, soft slab in wind loaded bowl, that stopped in the middle of the path with no step down.
Travel however, was challenging due to the amount of snow. S and W aspects were the best for travel, with ski pen of 10-20 cms on a supportive crust, and only needed ski crampons for the last steep ridgeline of Commonwealth. Ski pen below treeline was often 50 cms plus, and the travel was slow as a result. The Colonly/Empire/Territory ridgeline was significantly wind loaded, rimed up, icy and sketchy and required some creative excavation and tunnelling thought a large cornice to make it safe to travel with heavy packs, as well as crossing steep windloaded slopes, with ice and rime on S aspects and wind slab on N aspects. Allow extra time for this, move carefully and perhaps throw in a lightweight ice axe if you are not comfortable with a few low 5th class moves on snow/ice with some moderate exposure.
This was the first day we saw anyone else, with some heli ski parties skiing the S slopes Commonweath. The ski down to Lost lake hut from Commonwealth was all time, and on the ski out from Lost lake we chose to exit from the summit ridge of Commonwealth down a line on the SSE aspect to a pronounced gully feature that feeds into the secondary FSR. This was the best run of the trip, with lighter packs and over the head blower snow below treeline and much improved stability.
Overall a excellent wintery week; while this is a shorter traverse with no glacier travel, do not underestimate it, especially with high hazard. There is some significant route-finding required in complex terrain, challenging ridgeline travel and trailbreaking in deep snow makes the days much longer than one might anticipate if solely looking and length in kms.
Final notes: Copper and Steed hut require propane – we left a half full green can in each for the lanterns, but bring your own if you want to use the stove. Lots of firewood left. Huge thanks to KMC for the absolutely stellar hut network. Lost lake hut is 10/10! Peace love and no tarrif
info,
Thursday 6th February, 2025 12:00AM
Teddy trees and white queen
Skied from the resort down teddy bear trees to the clearing. New snow well bonded and no signs of wind loading below the ridge. Then hiked white queen to descend skiers left of black queen which also had great snow conditions. Returned over white queen and back into the resort ski way.
Snow was sat on a crust layer on the SW face of white queen so I did a quick hand shear test to gain some info. The block broke away at about 25-30cm depth and sheared right across on a weak layer, possibly surface hoar. It took a medium to hard pull to get the shear so we took conservative lines and spread out for the descent and had no other signs of instability on the way down. Other spots the snow was thinner, I think due to wind as the snow has fallen.
mphwaldock,
Thursday 6th February, 2025 12:00AM
KP Day 2
Fantastic time skiing off the SW shoulder of The Crags. Stuck to mellow slopes. No surprises. Flurries throughout the day. HST 5cms~. Where this was redistributed; a small wind slab could be found. SW ridgetop wind moderate gusting strong.
pauwels.justin,
Wednesday 5th February, 2025 9:30AM
KP Day 2
Fantastic time skiing off the SW shoulder of The Crags. Stuck to mellow slopes. No surprises. Flurries throughout the day. HST 5cms~. Where this was redistributed; a small wind slab could be found. SW ridgetop wind moderate gusting strong.
pauwels.justin,
Wednesday 5th February, 2025 9:30AM
Lightning strike
titouanchopin95,
Tuesday 4th February, 2025 12:30PM
Commonwealth slide 1.5
gm.amos,
Tuesday 4th February, 2025 11:00AM
Kootenay Pass
Skied the south side of the Craigs, day was windy with sunny periods. We saw no signs of any avalanche activity but lots of settlements in flat open areas with lots of wind loaded slabs on the east and west sides of the ridge we climbed.
rthomfor,
Tuesday 4th February, 2025 10:00AM
KP Day #1
Rode N/E aspects off Baldy and N aspects off the Crags. 1750-2000m~. Snow conditions were excellent. HST 50cms~ through terrain travelled. Storm snow largely unconsolidated with no notable slab properties except on isolated convexities. No whumpfing, shooting cracks, or drum-like sounds noted. Multiple hand-shears and pole probes produced no notable results. Some isolated SH growth in sheltered terrain, 3-5mm in size.
Observed avalanches NE aspect, 1900m~. Convexities into extreme terrain. Appears to have failed during most recent storm cycle.
pauwels.justin,
Tuesday 4th February, 2025 9:00AM
Giveout
About 20cm of new storm snow. First side hill off the trail set off the entire slope and set the tone for the day. Heeded the warning and avoided larger slopes.
reismcgillivray,
Friday 31st January, 2025 10:00AM