Avalanche Forecast
Avalanche Forecasts are for use by experienced backcountry travelers in uncontrolled sidecountry and backcountry terrain. These forecasts and conditions do not apply to open, in-bounds terrain at ski resorts, which is subject to avalanche control by local resort ski patrol.
Avalanche Rating
Considerable (3)
Give yourself a wide margin for error. New snow, wind and buried weak layers make a complex snowpack.
Small terrain and lower angle slopes will be safer riding.
More Detail
To get the complete forecast with additional graphics and details, please view the Avalanche Canada Zone forecast provided by Avalanche Canada.
Snowpack Discussion
Recent snow continues to accumulate and is between 20 to 40 cm in depth. This new snow sits on a melt freeze crust on previously sun affected slopes.
Cornices are large and fragile from recent winds and mild temperatures.
A concerning layer of facets, crusts, and in some places surface hoar is buried 60 to 110 cm deep. The distribution is variable throughout this region but it is most prevalent between 1700 to 2300 m. Large avalanches occurred on this layer on Saturday and Sunday, in north through southwest facing slopes above treeline.
Treeline snow depths range from 100 to 180 cm.
Avalanche Activity
Avalanche activity continues in this region with numerous natural and human triggered avalanches within the storm snow, at both treeline and in the alpine. In places these have been large (up to size 2.5).
Avalanches on the early December layer continue on north, east and west facing slopes around 2200 m. This includes large remotely triggered slabs, and human triggered cornice-falls triggering slabs on the slope below.
See the photos below for examples.