Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Dec 11 – 12, 2016Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2
    The Nov crust is down 40-90cm and is beginning to facet out, and loose strength and cohesion. There has been recent activity on this layer and requires respect.

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Cold temps promoting facetting of upper snow pack. Expect loose dry avalanches from steep terrain.

Weather Forecast

Alpine high of -14, light west winds with a mix of sun and cloud for Sunday. Monday morning temps are expected to have dropped back to -30 with an Alpine high of -25, brrrr.

Snowpack Summary

10mm surface hoar growth in the Parker Ridge area, with some feathers up to 50mm. Cold temps and a shallow snowpack are promoting faceting. Nov12 crust down 45 to 90cm and found between 2100-2600m on all aspects. Facet growth above and below crust which has been the failure plain for several avalanches in the Columbia Icefields area two days ago.

Avalanche Summary

Road patrol yesterday on the Icefields Parkway observed 3 significant slab releases up to size 2. These were likely triggered from a combination of solar input triggering a point release from steep exposed rocks and hitting the slope below triggering a slab.

Confidence

Regions covered