Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 11 – 12, 2017Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Finally looking like its going to warm up here moving into the weekend.  Fresh windslabs that are skier triggerable are easy to find right now.  Dont get lured into big terrain, conservative choices are a must.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Recent snow and wind have created fresh wind slabs immediately below ridge crests on all aspects.  Reverse loading from the northerly winds is expected to continue.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3
    These slabs are failing down 30-50cm at the main density change. Human triggering from a thin snowpack area is a definite possibility.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3
    More likely to be triggered from thinner areas and step down to the November crust producing larger avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Temps are forecast to slowly warm over the next few days and winds will increase out of the NW into the 26-50km/hr range at ridgetops.  No precip in the near future.

Avalanche Summary

A few natural avalanches on N and E aspects up to sz 2 were observed over the past 24hrs.  These slides were mainly in the alpine, but in a few locations they did run down into skiable terrain.  On one slide in the murray moraines area the slab was only 20-30cm deep but was surprisingly wide (100m)

Snowpack Summary

Variable wind effect in the Alpine, with pockets of fresh wind slab immediately below ridge-crest and in crossloaded features. The Dec 18th interface is buried 40 to 70cm at Treeline and remains a concern for human triggering. The Nov crust is buried up to 100cm deep and is exhibiting facetting both above and below the crust. At lower elevations (2100m and lower in some places!) the snowpack is weak and unsupportive due to prolonged periods of facetting.

Regions covered