Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 13 – 14, 2019Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Good skiing can be found in sheltered areas.  Wind slabs are present in the alpine.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2.5
    Wind slabs are widespread in the alpine and in open areas at tree line.  Steeper alpine features and thin spots are places to watch for human triggering.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1.5–3
    Any avalanche has the potential to trigger the basal facets, resulting in large avalanches.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Monday should be mostly sunny with alpine temperatures up to -3c with moderate westerly winds.  Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be be cloudy with sunny breaks and  temps a little cooler.  Maybe some light snow on Thursday.  Hoping!!!!!!!!

Avalanche Summary

One natural size 2.5 slab avalanche occurred sometime during Saturday night in Tent Bowl at approximately 2350m.  The failure plane was mostly on the basal facets and possibly also on the december 30 facets.

Snowpack Summary

Widespread wind slabs exist in the alpine and open areas at tree line.  Cross loaded features and lee areas show harder wind slabs and could be be triggered at the thinner spots. The upper half of the snow pack is well settled and overlies 50-60cm of very weak facets(sugar like snow).  This condition will persist over the long term, which means that any avalanche that occurs could step down to these weak basal layers causing a very large avalanche.  See the avalanche summary below.

Regions covered