Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
The higher elevations and North aspects should be looked at more carefully as the buried supportive crust varies in thickness.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
One skier controlled size 1 loose dry occurred in the Black Prince area before skiing a steeper North aspect.
Snowpack Summary
The recent storm snow is settling and now averages 10 to 20cm over the Feb 3 crust. This crust is anywhere from 0.5cm to 5cm thick up to 2500m and is on the thinner side on North aspects. Natural sluffing has subsided but can still gain momentum with skier traffic on steeper slopes. Some wind slab development in the alpine has been reported. Ski quality is dust on crust in the alpine. The depth of the snowpack still varies from 70-130cm.
Weather Summary
Monday will be mostly cloudy with isolated flurries and a high of -7c in the alpine. Winds are forecast to be 15km/hour from the West. Freezing level is expected to be 1600m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
- Be carefull with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.
- Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Some recent winds have likely created some isolated wind slabs where you do not normally find them(reverse loading).
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
This will still be an issue in areas that escaped the heat, as there is no previous crust to hold the snowpack together.
Aspects: North, North East, East, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5