Changing conditions
Quick reportCraig McGee · Dec 7, 2025 · Lake Louise
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, stormy
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes, sunnySlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab
Observed an avalanche that appeared to have released earlier today or possibly late yesterday, as there wasn’t much new snow on the debris. It was difficult to interpret the situation with the uptrack: part of the track crossed on top of the debris, and there was an adjacent bootpack near the crown. This suggests it may have been triggered by a group approaching the feature, although a natural release is also possible. However, it seems unlikely that people would bootpack right beside the slab when most of the upper couloir (steeper) had not slid. The slab looked to be 20 cm or more of denser snow over a crust on this south aspect, with what appeared to be facets above the crust. I’m posting this as it seems likely that this layer could become more reactive with the incoming snow and wind.
Weather
- Wind Speed
- windSpeedLight
- Blowing Snow
- none
- Sky Condition
- overcast
- Wind Direction
- SW
- Temperature Trend
- falling
- Precipitation Type
- snow
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- summary
- Site Aspect
- NW, S
- Test Fracture
- resistant
- Ski Penetration
- 20
- Test Initiation
- moderate
- Cracking Observed
- 1
- Test Failure Depth
- 40
- Surface Conditions
- crust
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- facets
A few quick hand test pits on the way up Surprise, where there was a crust, it seemed more reactive, where there was no crust, it was non-reactive (but slab building)
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 100
- Slab Width
- 20
- Wind Exposure
- crossLoadedSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 1.5
- Slab Thickness
- 20
- Start Zone Aspect
- S
- Vegetation Cover
- openSlope
- Start Zone Incline
- 36
- Avalanche Character
- stormSlab, windSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 2300
- Avalanche Observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- facets
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2025-12-06T15:00:00.000Z
Observed an avalanche that appeared to have released earlier today or possibly late yesterday, as there wasn’t much new snow on the debris. It was difficult to interpret the situation with the uptrack: part of the track crossed on top of the debris, and there was an adjacent bootpack near the crown. This suggests it may have been triggered by a group approaching the feature, although a natural release is also possible. However, it seems unlikely that people would bootpack right beside it when alot of the couloir had not slid. The slab looked to be 20 cm or more of denser snow over a crust on this south aspect, with what appeared to be facets above the crust. I’m posting this as it seems likely that this layer could become more reactive with the incoming snow and wind.