On Friday Nov 18 at 1 pm on the approach to Icefall Lodge, I observed an avalanche coming off the east face of Icefall Peak. This is in the western Rockies about 15 km east of Mt Forbes. The fracture line was on an east aspect at about 2900m. The avalanche ran full path reaching the valley bottom at 1000m, 1900m vertical! I didn't get a good look at the debris so it is hard to speculate on the size of the avalanche but definitely big. There were strong east winds at ridge top during the day on Friday. While this information is a bit dated now and the winds calmed down for Saturday and Sunday, there is still the potential for large avalanches running full path.
Snow depth at valley bottom (1000m) was 40 cm; at the lodge (1900m) 130 cm. No other signs avalanches were observed. Temperatures were -12 to - 19.
Larry Dolecki
Mountain Guide
www.icefall.ca
