Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 4th, 2021 4:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Avalanche Canada bchristie, Avalanche Canada

Email

Avalanche hazard increases as you travel to higher elevations.

Watch for reactive slabs on all aspects, changing winds may load unexpected features.

Check out our forecaster blog here for the big picture.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate - Confidence is due to a stable weather pattern with little change expected.

Weather Forecast

Saturday Night: Partly Cloudy. Trace of new snow. Temperature dropping to -15 at 1500 m. Moderate southwest winds, switching to northwest by the afternoon.

 

Sunday: Scattered cloud, clearing in the afternoon. No new snow expected. Temperature at 1500 m -16. Moderate to strong northwest winds.

Monday: Clear morning, cloud increasing over the day. No new snow expected. Temperatures above -15 at 1500 m, with a possible temperature inversion starting to set up. 

Tuesday: Overcast. 3-7 cm of snow expected. Strong to Extreme SW winds. Temperatures above -10 at 1500 m, with a possible temperature inversion.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed.

Recently, a few large avalanches were observed in the Southeast corner of the region. These avalanches ran on a deep persistent layer, likely one of the crusts from late October or early November.

Snowpack Summary

Wind slabs will be found in wind exposed terrain in the treeline and alpine. A crust exists below 1700m. The mid November rain crust can be found down 1m.

The lower snowpack consists of a series of early season crusts. These appear to be strong, but shallow alpine slopes along the eastern side of the Rockies towards Jasper may have weaker, faceted snow near the ground. Avoid thick to thin areas where you are more likely to be able to trigger this deeper instability. 

Snowpack depths are anticipated to be approaching 3 m in the alpine and around 150cm at treeline. Pine Pass area is currently the leader for snowpack depths.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Wind slabs are likely to be found near ridgelines and exposed terrain in the treeline and alpine.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1.5 - 2.5

Valid until: Dec 5th, 2021 4:00PM