Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
A bit of snow has helped the skiing but its still pretty thin out there.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
A flight through the Northern part of the spray this morning. No new slab avalanches were observed.
Snowpack Summary
20-30cm of low density snow can be found at treeline that is overlying a variety of previous snow surfaces from facetted snow to windslabs. The upper snowpack has generally been unaffected by winds except in specific areas such as ridgelines and cols.
Buried windslabs exist down 20-50cm in the snowpack but field observations have shown that these slabs are stubborn to trigger.
The weak basal facets are still a concern and have a potential to be triggered from thin snowpack areas which are still plentiful at this time. Stability has been improving but we are still avoiding steep thin features where triggering this weakness is still a possibility.
Weather Summary
Monday will see a mix of sun and cloud.
High of -6 and light winds.
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.
- Pay attention to the wind; once it starts to blow, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Expect new windslabs in immediate lee areas. These soft slabs are subtle, difficult to detect and easy to underestimate. Caution in unsupported terrain.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Deep Persistent Slabs
If triggered, surface wind slabs may step down and involve this layer. Avalanche sizes could be surprisingly large if this happens.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5