Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Kananaskis.
Winter is standing its ground and not going away just yet. 20-25cm of new snow is keeping the skiing good and the winter people happy. Closely monitor winds and solar input for the next day or so. Our good conditions will turn on us at a moments notice when the wind arrives.
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Today we received more snow than expected, which lowers the confidence in the actual weather forecast. According to the official forecast we'll get only a few more centimeters by tomorrow afternoon. This could very well be higher given the convective nature of the flurries. Temperatures will remain below zero with good cloud cover, buying us some time before it all becomes moist from heat. Winds will pick up in the afternoon to 40km/hr, SW. It will be important to monitor those given the amount of new snow.
Avalanche Summary
Several loose dry avalanches out of steep cliff terrain. No slabs were triggered by the loose dry avalanches.
Snowpack Summary
We received 20-25cm of new snow last night that stayed cold for most of today. Only valley bottoms had moist, heavy snow. In most places this new snow sits on a frozen crust that offers good support. We did find one steep roll at treeline that for some reason didn't have the frozen crust. Instead, it was insulated moist snow that whumphed on a couple of occasions. Once there is a slab on that moist snow, expect an avalanche. An overall lack of wind today kept the slab threat low. That will change once there's wind.Â
Terrain and Travel
- Avoid steep convex slopes.
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Isolated buried windslabs are being found at cols and on cross-loaded features. Expect new surface slabs once the winds pick up tomorrow.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5