Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 4th, 2018 3:25PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs and Loose Dry.

matt.mueller, Alberta Parks

Kananaskis.

Overall our snowpack is hanging in there for avalanche problems. The dec 15th layer hasn't proven to be a problem just yet, but we need a bit more time to convince ourselves it is low hazard at treeline.

Summary

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Relatively warm temps will continue with 2100m temperatures hitting -3 tomorrow.Â Skies will become more cloudy tonight, and continue to build as the week end nears. No snow will come with the cloud. Winds will gradually increase to 35km/hr tomorrow. Out of the west.

Avalanche Summary

A few newer loose dry "facalanches" in alpine terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Surface hoar continues to grow with the chilly, clear nights. Interestingly, there are bands of it from valley bottom to to about 1950 and then as you move higher it shows up again from 2000-2100, and then again at the top of treeline. It could very likely go higher, but we haven't traveled into the alpine lately. Aside from that, the most notable character of the snowpack is the very poor bond in the upper layers. The cold has taken a toll! Today we dug at treeline in the northern part of the region. The Nov crust was down about 60cm and well bonded despite there being facets above and below it. The deeper layers were also well bonded.

Problems

Wind Slabs

These are becoming tougher to find as the snow continues to weaken on the surface. Buried slabs may still exist in certain areas.

Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Loose Dry

These continue to stay on our radar in bigger terrain, or terrain traps. They are slowly getting better with the warmer temps.

Be cautious of sluffing in steep terrain.Avoid ice climbs that are exposed to steep rocky terrain on solar aspects.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Jan 5th, 2018 2:00PM