Kananaskis

Nobody is more excited for spring than this guy. But we can't force it, let spring come to us. Its still a winter snowpack no matter how much sun screen we put on. Continue to investigate the snowpack and use good judgement for ski lines. Spring will come...eventually.

Minus 12 as an overnight low, with a daytime high of -5. Clouds will be there all day, but probably thin at times, allowing some rays to creep through and warm things up. We are expecting some flurries overnight with a few centimeters adding up by mid morning. Interestingly, the winds will be mostly from the east and occasionally gusty. Overall, it will be a day very similar to Sunday.

No new activity today, but we did go have a look at yesterday's near miss in the Hero's Knob access. The crown measured 70cm deep and the 4 finger slab was sitting on facets and depth hoar (possibly the March 19th). At the crown a quick compression test had moderate (18 hits), but sudden planar results. All info suggests it was an unlucky stride over a thin spot that triggered it. The ski community owes the party a huge thank you for being so forthcoming with information!!

It feels like we have a lot of snow out there right now, and none of it is in true spring condition. Its still a winter snowpack with a couple of tricky interfaces. There's about 40cm of recent snow on top of an older crust or windslab (depends on aspect). In most cases these layers are cooperating, but in the odd place they aren't meshing together very well. Its important to not let the surface layers fool you into thinking its a no-brainer of a snowpack. Ya gotta literally dig a little deeper and have a look at these deeper layers. Its a surprisingly variable snowpack right now with potential for surprises. 

• Avoid steep convex slopes.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.