Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 17th, 2025–Jan 20th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

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

Cooler temperatures will move into the region on the weekend. Watch for reverse loading patterns with the northern winds and fresh windslabs overlying the melt freeze crust that developed earlier this week. Good skiing can be found in sheltered north areas.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A sz 2 windslab was observed out of steep extreme terrain on the south face of Mt Smuts. The slab was 20-30cm deep, 40m wide and ran 300m. It looks to have initiated near the peak in 40+deg terrain.

Snowpack Summary

3-8cm of snow fell on Thursday that is now overlying thin crust on mainly solar aspects up to at least 2400m. Field observations on Friday were on more solar aspects so teams do not quite have a handle on the height of this layer.

Isolated windslabs are being found in alpine areas along ridglines and in gullied terrain. No reactivity was noted on these slabs on Friday and the ones that were encountered were not that large in size. Previously developed windslabs were observed but were stubborn to trigger. Forecasters still avoided unsupported slopes where the slabs were encountered and choose to ski on more supported pieces of terrain where there was wind affect.

There is a chance of another few cms of snow overnight on Saturday as temperature continue to cool and winds shift to more northerly. Continue to watch for windslabs in alpine and treeline areas.

See Profile

Weather Summary

See table

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

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.