About Kootenay - Vermillion Pass

This page shows the current backcountry snow report, avalanche forecast, and weather conditions for Kootenay - Vermillion Pass. Check the danger rating, field observations, and Doctor's Orders summary above before heading out.

The Kootenay region covers the eastern portion of Kootenay National Park, centred on the Vermilion Pass and Marble Canyon area where Highway 93 South connects Banff to Radium Hot Springs. This area sits at the Continental Divide, where the terrain transitions from the Main Ranges of the Canadian Rockies into the Western Ranges, featuring a mix of deep, limestone-walled canyon systems and more open subalpine terrain on the upper ridgelines and passes. The highway corridor provides winter access to the region's lower terrain, while the higher drainages of Tokumm Creek and the Ottertail River system require extended ski touring approaches. The snow climate is transitional, positioned between the Columbia wet belt influence that penetrates from the west through the Kootenay Valley and the continental conditions that prevail on the Alberta side of the Divide. Snowfall is moderate and the snowpack is denser and better consolidated than regions further east in the Rockies proper. Cold Arctic air masses that dominate the Bow Valley can reach into this region through the Vermilion Pass corridor, adding a continental volatility to an otherwise more maritime base. Persistent weak layers are possible but less dominant than in drier continental regions, and storm slab and wind slab on the upper terrain are the primary near-term hazard patterns.

Terrain within this zone includes: Vermilion Pass, Marble Canyon, Tokumm Creek, Kootenay National Park, Simpson River, Highway 93.