Kananaskis

Until we see a change in the weather pattern, the avalanche hazard will keep hovering in the moderate to low range. If good travel and killer views are your thing, right now is your time. If ski quality is what blows your hair back, treeline is your best bet for soft snow & good turns.

A few small loose dry sluffs were noted today. Likely from wind induced sluffs off of major cliffs. No significant avalanches were noted.

Surface hoar has been growing over the past few days with the cooler nights. Otherwise not much is changing, and backcountry users can expect a thin melt freeze crust on all aspects up to 2300m, and higher and thicker on solar aspects. Wind slabs are common at treeline and above from the strong winds over this past week with some areas stripped down to rock. A buried surface hoar layer is also being found down 50cm up to 2100m that has been producing results in the hard range.

The November crust is deeply buried in the snowpack down 120-200cm. Field tests on this layer over the past few days have produced no results from a deep tap test on this layer. There is still some concern for triggering this layer from thin snowpack areas.

What will Monday bring? Well, its going to start with morning lows of -18 (2200m), then warm up to -6 by mid afternoon. Thin cloud will gradually build as the day goes on. Winds will basically be calm up to treeline. Above that expect a light NW breeze.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep terrain, including convex rolls, or areas with a thin, rocky, or variable snowpack.
• Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
• Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.