Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 12th, 2020 3:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
JMackenzie,
Avalanche Canada
The hazard through the region is LOW, but remember it's still early season and the snowpack is shallow. It is still possible to trigger an avalanche, which would not be a fun ride. Lots of rocks, stumps and trees just below the surface that could cut a ski season short.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Temperatures are expected to drop to -18 tonight in the Spray Valley, and even colder down in the Bow Valley. Sunday should be a mainly cloudy day with the occasional snow flake falling, but no accumulations are expected. Daytime highs will be near -11c with light winds.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new today.
Snowpack Summary
Surface hoar continues to grow in sheltered areas at lower elevations. Due to the cold temperatures there is also significant surface faceting occurring. There remains very little wind effect on the recent snow, even in the Alpine, however forecasters did note some snow movement at mountain top today. The recent 25 to 30cm of low density surface snow sits over a wide variety of layers, including hard wind slabs, crusts and surface hoar. During the storm, the region experienced a widespread avalanche cycle involving this new snow, but in recent days there has been little to no activity. The November rain crust is faceting out, but the condition of the crust is becoming quite variable. In some areas it remains dense and easily carries the weight of a skier, while in other areas it has broken down significantly.
Terrain and Travel
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Pockets of wind slab can be found in lee and cross-loaded terrain. Some of these are very dense, hard slabs. Dig down to evaluate the bond beneath the wind slabs before committing to bigger terrain features.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
There seems to be lots of variability with this layer. As always, thin areas transitioning to localized wind loaded pockets will be more sensitive.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 13th, 2020 3:00PM
