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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 1st, 2014–Feb 2nd, 2014

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

North facing sheltered areas at treeline will have the best chance for decent skiing. Travel is getting better, and the days are longer. Lengthier tours are seeming more realistic these days.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

A similar day to today. Temps will come up a bit, but it will still be chilly in the morning. -15 is the morning low. There will be more cloud cover throughout the entire day as well. No significant snow.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches noted today

Snowpack Summary

Light winds in the alpine have started to move some of the surface snow. No sign of any significant windslabs yet. SE to SW aspects have a sun crust that will occasionally support a skier/rider. On non-solar aspects the surface snow is still loose. Classic dust on crust type skiing. The buried windslabs (and mid-pack in general) is faceting out with the cold temps. The loss of slab density is reducing the likelihood of the slabs propagating. No change in the quality of the basal layers. They are still weak. Treeline depths vary dramatically from area to area. Today's adventure was to Mt. Nestor where the average depth at treeline was 40 cm's.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.