Waterton Lakes
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wet Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wet Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Loose Wet, Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Wet, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 10th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 3rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Feb 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Feb 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Feb 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Feb 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Loose Dry.
Published: Feb 17th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Dry.
Published: Feb 14th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Feb 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Feb 10th, 2025Vimy Slide and Sub Par Riding
<p>Toured up to Vimy Peak. Crossed the foot of middle Waterton Lake and skinned up to tree line where the snow was mostly blown away. Boot packed 40 mins to the summit, temps were about -3 or so with 10-15km/h winds.
Riding was wind affected and crusty up higher and then the gully feature on the way down was pretty heavy and didn’t ride well. Surprisingly little snowpack compared to other years in that area. We were able to skin back most of the way to the vehicles. </p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
forum east pow
<p>60cm storm snow on crust. failed on 14. our pit was 30 yards downslope from the top of the ridge where the tree line ends (wind affected). riding was epic</p>
Coleman Secretan,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Rowe down throw down
<p>As we skinned up, we noticed some small Size 1 loose sluffs in an E facing bowl on lookers right. Snow quality improved considerably above 1900m. South slopes were quite wind affected, and wind had transported snow on more Easterly aspects.</p>
nictayt,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Forum Ridge E Aspect
<p>Skinned up and dug a test profile on the Eastern aspect of Forum Ridge on a warm sunny day. Rain crust is present up to 1900m and supportive to skier traffic. </p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Forum Ridge W Aspect
<p>Test profile on West aspect of Forum Ridge. Rain crust is present up to 1900m and supportive to skier traffic. 10-20cm redistributed snow from last weeks storm has formed soft wind slab in lee aspects and sheltered areas in the alpine. Ski quality was better then expected, in sheltered areas.</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Quick and Dirty conditions
<p>Walked up to quick and Dirty to take a look at conditions (see photo). Sun packed a punch this afternoon, bringing intermittent rockfall in the amphitheatre.</p>
adamcgreenberg,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Mount Rowe
<p>Avi Hazard low at and below treeline today. Snowpack showed no signs of instability. Wind hardened crust present at all elevations on south face of Mount Rowe. Side cutting difficult or impossible at many places above 2100m, I had to boot pack it at 3 sections on my ascent, but I summited at a reasonable pace in 3 hours.
Descended directly south of the peak down the drainage path. Overall it was OK, a bit crusty in places but very rideable and even enjoyable the whole way down.</p>
jal10,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Crusts, Wind Slabs, and Dust on Crust
<p>Skied Saturday-Monday in the Cameron Lake area. Skiing quality is poor at all elevations and aspects. Rain crust to ~1900m and wind pressed snow above 1900m. --- Summit Lake Ridge had signs of multiple wet avalanches in the trees/burn from the last storm cycle. Rain crust was semi supportive and so slippery we had to abandon our accent.
-Forum Ridge - East Burn was the best skiing we had all weekend, 1-5cm of wind deposited snow overtop of very firm to breakable wind slaps or rain crust. 100% dust on crust
-Wall Ridge? (Ridge between Forum and Wall Lakes) - Seemed to have even more wind affect then forum Ridge. Put in a quick test pit at saddle. CT8 SP at 15-20cm. HS 180cm (Jan 17). Skiing quality was inconsistent breakable wind slabs and 5cm wind shifted powder. Bumped into a AST 2 group who provided the other Jan 17th MIN. Very windy on Sunday.
Overall. I would recommend skiing elsewhere until this area resets.
</p>
SENDITSAULNIER,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Mount Rowe
<p>We skied Mount Rowe from a few meters below the summit down the slide paths skiers right of the Rowe Bowl. Conditions were better than expected up high with a bit of storm snow on a firm base. The last ~300m vertical in the trees has an unpleasant breakable crust, but a good day overall. No signs of instability, other than the large crown in the Rowe Bowl that looks to have gone sometime in the last week. </p>
Steven Noël,
Saturday 8th February, 2025 10:38PM
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Feb 8th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs.
Published: Feb 6th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Dry.
Published: Feb 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Loose Dry.
Published: Feb 1st, 2025Better than expected
<p>Skied East facing slopes on the Summit side of Cameron Lake. As expected, the snow quality was best on lee and shaded aspects and was surprisingly good at times. 5-15cm of storm snow over a melt-freeze crust, not yet bonded, with sluffing noted off of cliff bands near treeline, and significant sluffing while skiing steep, shaded slopes. Crust was light and breakable near ridgetop and supportive near the lake. Snow was more supportive on solar aspects, with a firmer, less breakable crust. Snow became wet, heavy, and sticky in the afternoon even in the shade. Winds were calm to light (SW), increasing in the afternoon with light precip (S-1) on the south end of the lake. </p>
mtnwitch,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Spring Snow
<p>We found 15-20 cm of snow overlying a melt-freeze crust today. In some areas right at ridge crest, a thin older wind slab could be found under the more recent unconsolidated snow. Despite cold temperatures, brief periods of sun caused surface snow to become moist on southerly aspects. Skiing on other aspects was great all day. We saw a few natural size 1 loose dry avalanches out of steep, rocky terrain that occurred today.</p>
agoodhue,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Buchanan Peak Pow Corn Combo
<p>Great overnight freeze and 5cm fresh. Thick crust (crampons used) in thick areas on W aspect in the AM, penetrable where heat fingers exist (thin rocky areas). Observed some old wet debris and pinwheeling on solar aspects, but less then expected. Still lots of smooth snow to be had. Observed one old slab avalanche out of an extreme north aspect. Went full blue at 1PM we waited for corn to ripen on a steep SE face, dropped in shortly after 2PM with the 5cm fresh going moist and the crust softening. Quiet day in these mountains wind and avalanche wise. Crust was still solid in the shade all the way to townsite @1300m at 4:30PM. Still decent low elevation coverage for this area, only took skis off once for 10 steps whilst skiing to town.</p>
dzskiz,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Cameron lake
<p>Weather was warm and the snow was very sun affected. Heavy and sticky snow with some pinwheeling occurring naturally. </p>
livingstonesaskia,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Summit
<p>Still powder like snow on a firm surface approximately 30 cm down. Some mild sluffing while skiing. Great skiing top to bottom.</p>
balutisi,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Who stole the wind?
<p>An excellent day of skiing on Rowe today. North winds have redistributed snow into reverse lees. We will be paying close attention to the wind speed and direction in the next few days with so much snow available for transport. Steep solars began to get warm in the afternoon as the sun poked out, but no significant solar triggered avalanches were observed. Fast dry loose avalanches were our primary concern, and we ski cut two size ones on the north facing terrain we skied. Pay attention to your sluff out there. </p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Hot Pow
<p>Warm temps an 30+ cm new snow have created soft storm slabs in the Cameron Lake area. Great skiing while the freezing levels stay low enough!
We had very poor visibility making impossible to see any recent avalanche activity in surrounding areas.</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Solid at Forum
<p>Had a great afternoon out at Forum ridge today. Observed very solid snow conditions on the way up, with one or two very small, isolated pockets of spook. Dug a pit about 3/4 of the way up, and got no results from an ECT. Resorted to jumping on the column to try to force a reaction, and while it finally went (after 3 jumps) the failed layers did not propagate across the entire column. The ski down was excellent, there is about 30cm of fresh from the storm that is soft, but has substance. Closer to the lake there seemed to be less snow, and could feel the crust underneath.</p>
cyrus.pischke,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Waterton conditions
<p>Snowing hard all day! Did a extended column test at 2045 meters on a north facing slope at 25 degrees, on the north side of Forum Ridge (in areas not burned by fire). Could not get any results, fractures or propogation (ECT-X-30+). The new snow has really helped the skiing (especially on north facing slopes) - too bad it's so cold now! :(</p>
Brad Hagen,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Rowe Peak
<p>Warm sunny day in the alpine. Alpine temps got up to +2 degrees. Previous melt freeze crust exists on all aspects below treeline and provided easy travel conditions once it softened with day time temps. Variable ski quality with day time warming.
No new avalanches observed with very good visibility. Rowe bowl has some well defined hard sastrugi in it messing up the skiers right lines.</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Refreshing Stability
<p>The new snow really helped things out here. We dug a pit on an east facing 35 degree slope at treeline. 155cm deep, we did an extended column and didn’t get any results. After extensive prying from the back it did fail on a later 110cms down (probably the Dec 4th crust). Very stable!
Riding was mostly power with hints of crust below. Only about 15cm on storm snow on top but it rode more like 30cms.
No other signs of instability or avalanches anywhere. No real wind effect either, maybe just the start of some on the ridge top but otherwise good. Clouds rolled in around 1pm but the day started sunny and temps hovered around -23 at ridge top.</p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Rowe
<p>About 15cm new snow on melt freeze crust. Crust was firm but somewhat breakable making for easy accent. Wind affect above 2000m. No snow transport below made for decent skiing. </p>
cdcarnell,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Forum Ridge
<p>Approximately 15cm new snow on crust. Avy forecast really helped; mellow slopes skied nicely. Wind really picked up late in the day with ++ snow transport.</p>
balutisi,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:33PM
Supportive crust skiing
<p>A 15 cm rain crust exists up to 2000m. A 1 cm temp crust exists to 2400m on solar aspects. Hard windslabs found in sheltered areas in AL. Dug a pit at 2400m, SE aspect :CTH 21 down 10 cm in wind slab. Supportive crust skiing on solar aspects. Slow down at 1750m where skiing gets more challenging with breakable crust.</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Finally some visibility
<p>We skied in the Summit Knob area on Jan 04 and completed road patrols with better visibility today on Jan 05.
Only small surface results observed from most recent storm. A few small loose dry avalanches and one small slab avalanche from a steep lee N facing feature.
Ski quality has improved with the recent snow, however in steeper terrain the old hard windslabs can still be felt under the low density snow.
A big shift in the weather is forecast and a return to classic warm and windy southern Alberta days. </p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Rowe your
<p>Snow conditions were great. Good signs of Stability, but we did have some shooting cracks on the skin up on more wind effected south facing slopes. Stayed in the trees and away from South facing slopes. </p>
kayla.lissel,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Forum
<p>Lots of snow in the Cameron Lake area from this recent storm. No signs of instability at any point of the day, new snow was becoming slightly wind affected at ridge line as the day progressed. Deep deep deep.</p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
gently down the mountain
<p>We were treated to sunlight and fresh cold snow. Ski tests on steep SE convexity produced dry loose point releases (sluffs) on anything steeper than 40 degrees. Soft slab likely to form with the winds and likely be reaching a point of heightened reactivity in the coming days, until the wind hammers it back into impenetrable hardslab. Winds were mainly light-moderate with minimal effect on the new snow until above 2400m (summit pitch) where consistent strong winds had created reactive soft slab in isolated pockets.</p>
dzskiz,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Rowe your boat
<p>Some subtle settlements where storm snow overlies old windslab or crust. only seeing reactivity in small isolated pockets on steep rolls of unsupported drifts. generally storm slab 15-20cm deep but in some immediate lee features the old wind slab is breaking 40cm+ deep where unsupported. no base below 1800m as per forecasters report and that extends higher depending on aspect/feature. Typical extreme variability. Keep er low angle and/or on established trail at lower elevations. Crossloaded SE gullies above 2000m skiied very well if you can read the terrain well enough to ski where there's base.</p>
dzskiz,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Winter Prevails
<p>Surprisingly good riding today on Forum Ridge. Anywhere from 5-15cms of fluffy snow on a thick but supple crust. Didn’t go further than the trident tree and our 3 meter probs was unable to reach ground when we tested for snow depth.
Walked back out across the lake</p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Hot tamales on Forum Ridge
<p>Sunburns were bad but skiing was good on an east-facing treed slope. Snow surface was wet and heavy, but there was no evidence of avalanche activity.</p>
oliver.kienzle,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Forum Ridge
<p>30 cm soft snow near top of Forum ridge no wind or sun affect today Temp about -8C. Skied to 50 meters above cliff band then traversed northward and back onto the ridge + repeat. Exited the west side to Cameron Lk. Top was good and skiable to bottom. </p>
cdcarnell,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Powder season over already?
<p>Started the day to attempt the low angle runs on Rowe shoulder but crust was strong enough that we made a decision to head towards the lower angle slopes on north end of Forum ridge instead. Snow was far softer there and gave us hope for good spring like conditions on slopes we were aiming for. Started the run at the trident tree on mellow slope and stopped when the slope turned to 32 degree. Did an Ect test to 24 at first sign of propagation. Didn’t measure exact depth but around 25 cm down from surface. By end of shoulder swings propagation went about 20cm through the column. Felt stable enough for us to continue the run to the lake and did one more lap. There was whumpfing a couple times on flat snow on bench above lake but not present at all once the slope inclined on our way up for the second lap. Definitely a thin wind/sun crust from top to bottom though but still decent day out. </p>
kodiakplumbum,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Summit area
<p>Light to moderate snowfall all day. Strong winds in the alpine and on the lake - blustery. Lots of wind loading - wind slabs forming in alpine. In sheltered areas, 25 cm of soft snow on the surface. Rain crust was at 75 cm. Snow depth on lee side in pit was 250 cm. No avalanche activity. </p>
Farley,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
wt
<p>Calm (less than 10km/hr) from 9am-2pm at Cameron Lake/forum ridge despite high (60km+) winds at the townsite. a skiff of snow over yesterdays uptrack. yesterdays' skitracks filled in overnight with wind. </p>
koll,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Rowe bowl and shoulder
<p>Mount Rowe offered good skiing on sheltered aspects in the shoulder below about 2000m. Snow above this, or in less sheltered areas, was hard and wind affected.
We skied a steep line into the bowl which was sheltered enough to have some softer wind affected snow, but was pretty variable and not great. We skied back onto the shoulder to enjoy two good laps in the trees. There's plenty of up and down tracks out there, but still a lot of good turns.
Wind was on and off at ridge top, seemingly mostly in the strong range, blowing snow at top of treeline and alpine into outer space. Some whumphing in the trees low down on our way up on low angle terrain.
</p>
fakejoster,
Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 9:32PM
Forum Ridge
<p>Skied the East side of Forum Ridge today. Height of snow was around 190cm at ridge top with 3-6cm of new snow overlying 30cm of well consolidated snow, with multiple melt-freeze crust complexes found between 30 and 70cm below the surface.
Compression test produced a progressive compression result after 23 taps, 16cm below the surface on 2mm facets.
Strong solar input throughout the day made the top 5cm moist, leading to roller balling while we skied. Overall, still good skiing to be had, but lots of layers in the mid-pack that could produce larger avalanches as heating continues throughout the week. </p>
seanharrop.e,
Sunday 17th April, 2022 3:10PM
Forum Ridge Avalanche
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Friday 4th March, 2022 3:45PM
Mount Rowe Cream
<p>Creamy conditions in sheltered treed slope, slabby in windward areas</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Saturday 26th February, 2022 2:25PM
Waterton Backcountry
Brad Hagen,
Friday 11th February, 2022 10:15PM
Crandell Lake Snowshoe
<p>A group of 6 snowshoeing to Crandell Lake, on an AST course. Stayed below treeline all day. We saw evidence of wind transport from yesterday’s wind event. Three small windslab avalanches observed in treeline terrain on the E face of Ruby Ridge. Bluebird all day with L-M winds.</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Thursday 27th January, 2022 1:05PM
Deep days
<p>Deep skinning for fantastic turns. Stayed low and out from under over head hazards. No cracks no whumpfing. Light went really flat and the snow closed in and forced me back to the truck after two runs. </p>
danwebster,
Friday 7th January, 2022 4:30PM
Cameron Lake - Forum Ridge
bradhurkett,
Monday 3rd January, 2022 6:35PM
Snowy forum ridge
<p>15-30 cm of new snow (varied due to wind transport) on top of wind slab. Warmer weather than in Waterton village; nice break from recent cold.
Snow felt stable while skiing down, but some storm slabs were beginning to form in places. Variable conditions with some nice powdery sections, mixed with a few thinner spots where you could feel slab or crust underneath. Overall some nice riding to be found.
</p>
dallasinwonderland,
Monday 3rd January, 2022 3:10PM
Feelin Out Forum
<p>The skin track up was super soft and unconsolidated snow, leading us to hope for great riding. Once we broke out of the main thick trees along the ridge we we met with crusty wind slabs. We wanted to go further to check out the gully feature, but stopped halfway and rode back to the trident tree, dropping there.
The snow was soft underneath a 3-5cm wind crust. It rode alright, not amazing but not awful. Definitely still hidden logs and stumps in the upper half. The lower quarter of the slope was really sharky, but we were still able to ride fairly unhindered down to the lake.
The lake looks mostly frozen and is probably good to walk on.
Pictures show the skin track, the wind affected snow, snow halfway down, and snow right down at lake level.</p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Tuesday 21st December, 2021 4:30PM
Summit Knob
<p>Better then expected ski conditions on SE aspect of Summit Knob on Monday with little wind effect below the ridge. Eastern aspect of Summit still needs more snow before ski quality becomes good, as many hidden hazards are lurking. No avalanche activity observed in entire Cameron Lake area with our first day of good visibility this week.. </p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Tuesday 21st December, 2021 9:30AM
Waterton Conditions Update
<p>Below 1800m early season conditions still exist. Very good powder skiing to be found at higher elevations in select areas. Akamina Parkway is track-set for cross country skiing from Little Prairie to Cameron Lake</p>
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Tuesday 14th December, 2021 2:45PM
Lineham Falls Ice
<p>Went in to check ice at Lineham Falls.
Left side has a thick pillar at the base but undeveloped ice directly above. Need a week or more to solidify. The upper ice on the left side looked quite nice and starting to become blue.
The right side was pouring water and the ice that was there was super wet and slushy.
We got into the falls just in our boots with all new snow. Depth varying from 10-20cms. </p>
Tanner Rodgers ,
Saturday 4th December, 2021 6:00PM
Mixed bag.
<p>Very crusty in the AM. Some steeper sections were easier to boot pack, since we didn’t bring crampons. The snow was significantly better on shaded features. By mid day things were warming up more than expected. We dug a pit at 2240m, on an east aspect. Total snow depth there was 190cm. The snowpack seemed less stratified but with far more facets than before the Feb cold snap. Definitely some very thick rotten layers in there, especially deeper down. 3 hits from the shoulder produced a sudden planar failure, 90cm down, on a thick layer of facets. With the warming and and the small chance of producing a very large avalanche, we decided against dropping into the open bowl.
</p>
crashtestwilliams,
Wednesday 10th March, 2021 12:00PM
Buchanan Ridge natural avalanche
Waterton Visitor Safety,
Monday 15th February, 2021 3:05PM
Bertha trees
Marcus Waring,
Tuesday 9th February, 2021 6:35AM