Kootenay Pass

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, stormy, sunny

Ride Type

denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

Excellent skiing! Didn't feel the crust under the storm snow on N, NE, E, or SW slopes from 2200-1900m. Whumpfing and limited shooting cracks observed while breaking trail on uptracks, mostly in flatter terrain.

Weather

Avg Temp

-3

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

light

Sky Condition

brokenClouds

Snowfall Rate

1

Wind Direction

SW

New Snow24 Hours

25

Storm Start Date

2026-04-14

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

snow

Snowpack

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

N, NE

Site Elevation

2100

Ski Penetration

25

Foot Penetration

35

Cracking Observed

1

Test Failure Depth

35

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

newSnow

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

crust

Avalanche

Run Length

100

Slab Width

8

Trigger Type

skier

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

1

Slab Thickness

35

Trigger Sub Type

intentional

Start Zone Aspect

N

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Start Zone Incline

40

Avalanche Character

stormSlab, windSlab

Crust Near Weak Layer

1

Number Of Avalanches

2-5

Start Zone Elevation

2080

Runout Zone Elevation

2000

Weak Layer Burial Date

2026-04-14

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2026-04-15T19:00:00.000Z

Storm slab triggered on the second ski cut at the top of the ridge. Storm snow observed to be 30-40cms at ridge line on North aspects. I was expecting more of a sluff to start moving but the slab propagated ~3-4m on either side of me. Easily skied to my safe zone. Also observed several small (<5m) slabs release on NE, E, and NW aspects between 2200-1900m where the storm snow had consolidated a bit (sun or wind affected).