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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 15th, 2020–Nov 16th, 2020

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

A busy day today at Highwood Pass! Pretty much any ski-able terrain was heavily, heavily traveled. This inevitably forces people to look elsewhere for fresh turns. Be diligent with selecting un-skied terrain. 

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Steady temperatures around -8. Wind will fade a bit, dropping to 45km/hr from the west by tomorrow afternoon. No snow is forecasted, but don't be surprised if there are some local flurries rolling through the area.

Avalanche Summary

Some old(24 hours) avalanches were note today. They were sz1.5-2, east aspect and below alpine cliffs. 

Snowpack Summary

New snow on Saturday and Sunday has buried the Nov 5 crust under 45-50cm of snow at treeline. So far it appears to be bonding OK, but previously wind scoured/exposed crust patches might have a worse bond with the new storm snow. Basically, its worth spending some time investigating it at the start of the day. Of more interest today was a facet layer down 40cm. Its thought this was the exposed surface during the last warm spell. In snow tests we had repeatable failures(CTM12 SC) on this layer today. The winds today transported a LOT of snow and windslabs are building at all elevations.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid lee and cross-loaded slopes at and above treeline.
  • Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.
  • Ice climbers should be equipped with avalanche safety gear.
  • Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.