Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Kananaskis.
If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on true north slopes having the best(driest) snow these days. I know, kind of a no-brainer. Its been a long season and catchy headlines are harder and harder to come by. But there ya have it, my money is on polar aspects for good skiing.
Confidence
Moderate -
Weather Forecast
An average, ho-hum spring day is on deck for tomorrow. Cloudy skies, light SW winds and the odd flurry. The morning low will be around -5, with a high of zero (at 2pm). The week end might be a bit more exciting with a low grade storm coming through saturday evening.Â
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new was reported. To be completely honest, other chores kept us from being in the field. No direct observations.
Snowpack Summary
The dry snow is getting harder to find. Today wasn't especially warm, but all the weather stations were above zero by noon. The good news is the moderate warmth will help those pesky windslabs stick to the other layers. North aspects will preserve the alpine windslabs. The lower elevations are really feeling the freeze/thaw cycles. Snow is moist by early afternoon and is creeping higher and higher every day.
Terrain and Travel
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet
- Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain.
- Avoid steep convex slopes.
- Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
- Cornices become weak with daytime heating or solar exposure.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
These are improving, but steep and/or convex terrain on north aspects may still have slabs.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5