Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 12th, 2024–Dec 12th, 2024

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.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

Time to start asking for snow this Christmas! Any avalanche will likely involve the entire snowpack. Great climbing conditions in areas such as the Ghost.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were observed.

Snowpack Summary

Wind slabs are common in the alpine and are more sensitive to triggering along lee features, convex rolls along ridges and cross loaded gullies. The height of the snowpack varies significantly and where it is deeper, the snowpack is generally stronger. The October crust is located in the bottom 20cm of the snowpack and the November crust is not as widespread and is found about 35cm off the ground. Take the time to dig and investigate these layers.

The Dec 7th interface is found on most aspects up to 2200m and on more solar aspects up to 2500m.

Weather Summary

Click on the table below for weather info and Friday's weather is under the "Tomorrow" Tab.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Avoid steep terrain that is rocky and thin.

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.