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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 8th, 2020–Feb 9th, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Good skiing at treeline and below right now. The alpine looks more crossloaded and wind affected. Tread carefully at the treeline/alpine transition.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Overnight low of -21, rising to -10 by 2pm. No new snow, maybe a few flurries, but nothing too exciting. The winds will be light from the SW down low and strong (80km/hr) from the NW at mountain top. 

Avalanche Summary

One cornice fall was witnessed today around noon. It triggered a sz2 loose dry snow avalanche that traveled quite far. It didn't initiate a slab.

Snowpack Summary

5-10 new in the last 24 hours. Not much for wind affect up to 2300m. Above that light winds were blowing some snow around, but not much for new loading. Having said that, there are fresh cornices out there that appear to be delicate. Buried windslabs exist in crossloaded features at treeline. A failure between layers was noted down 50cm. The mid pack is hanging in there and feels supportive in most areas, but the very bottom of the snowpack is still weak and suspect. The rain crust is making for easy travel up to 1950-2000m.

Terrain and Travel

  • Conditions may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.