Kananaskis

Small pockets of wind slab are the most likely trouble you'll find out there. Watch alpine terrain traps carefully. Ice climbers: Ya listening? Watch for pockets of wind or spindrift slabs as you top out or walk off routes. Don't let the rug get pulled out from under you.

No new avalanches observed today with good visibility.

Some minor changes happened today. In the last 24hrs, the recent snow settled a respectable 6cm at the Highwood weather station. Overall, this is a good thing long term, but in the short term we may see some increase slab development. Likely it won't be an issue, but it will add a layer to our spindly snowpack. Valley bottoms and treeline areas are still skimpy for coverage. To quote every other Kananaskis snowpack summary: "we have a crust from mid November in the snowpack.". At the moment this crust is giving support and "walkability" but does pose an increasing concern as a sliding layer, especially as load and/or distribution changes. Death, taxes, wind & a crust...the certainties of life in Kananaskis.

Thursday will see some light snow coming our way. It looks like it will start in the afternoon and carry on overnight. Expect 4-8cm. The high for the day will be about -4° with a morning low of -10°. Winds? Those will be mostly light southerlies, but will briefly swirl around to the east for our impending blizzard.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.
• Ice climbers should be equipped with avalanche safety gear.
• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
• Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.