Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
We need snow and it might be coming Wednesday! Until then, continue to be mindful of wind slabs at upper elevations in gully features and below ridgelines. The snowpack is still weak and shallow.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed or reported in the Kananaskis region. However, our neighbours to the NW along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park had 2 reported skier triggered avalanches over the weekend. Both of these incidents involved the deep persistent slab. This could be an indicator of conditions in the Kananaskis Region as well. Check the MIN reports on https://avalanche.ca/map for more details.
Snowpack Summary
Yet another day of very little change to our snowpack. The alpine is dominated by wind slabs of varying densities. Lee and cross-loaded gullies are of concern as winds have been a huge factor in recent weather patterns. Snowpack depths are around the 75cm mark at 2300m with the Oct crust still apparent near the bottom. Valley bottom depths are near threshold. Snow depths are well below average for this time of year, and the shallow weak snowpack is generally not conducive to easy travel if you leave an established skin track.
Weather Summary
Tuesday will be mainly cloudy with moderate NW winds. Temperatures should climb to -8C as a high. Very light flurries are expected through the day that will only add up to about 1cm. But after that we may finally get an early Christmas present! One forecast is calling for 20cm through the day on Wednesday, but others are saying only 4cm. Let's go with the former! Unfortunately the wind may also peak above 100km/h, but if that brings 20cm of snow, we'll take it!
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.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind slabs are common in alpine areas. Thin areas are potential trigger spots. Any failure of the wind slab will likely step down and involve the entire winters snowpack.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Deep Persistent Slabs
If triggered the surface wind slabs may step down to this layer and involve the entire winters snowpack.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5