Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 24th, 2016 3:00PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Persistent Slabs and Loose Dry.

mike.koppang, Alberta Parks

Kananaskis.

Tricky conditions out there right now with newly buried skier triggerable slabs being found at treeline and above. Conservative terrain selection is key. Merry Christmas!!!

Summary

Confidence

High - Due to the quality of field observations on Saturday

Weather Forecast

LIght snow and seasonal temperatures will continue through to the 26th.Â Winds are forecast to remain light out of the NE but looking down the road, winds and temperatures are looking like they will increase into the strong range out of the SW on the 27th.

Avalanche Summary

Conditions were somewhat obscured on Saturday but we were able to see a few loose dry avalanches up to sz 2 that ran into skiable terrain.Â We suspect that there are some new slab avalanche occuring in alpine areas but we were unable to confirm this due to the visibility.Â

Snowpack Summary

An additional 10cm of snow fell overnight on the 23rd giving us up to 20cm of snow over the past 48hrs at treeline.Â Lower elevations saw about half that amount. This new snow fell under the influence of light winds and as a result, has made it tougher to locate the previous windslabs that formed earlier in the week.Â Over the past week the forecasting team has been easily able to trigger the now hidden windslabs that were failing on a layer of facets from the cold temperatures earlier in december.Â These windslabs are being encountered in open alpine terrain as well as in specific features at treeline such as gullies and cross-loaded features.Â Conservative terrain selection is important at this time.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Recently buried triggerable slabs are still being easily found in the alpine and isolated areas at treeline. Use smaller slopes that are not connected to a bigger overhead terrain.

Be cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.Use caution on open slopes and convex rolls

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Likely

Expected Size

1 - 3

Loose Dry

Loose dry avalanches up to sz 2 have been observed over the past 2 days. These slabs were running down into skiable terrain.

Sluffs may trigger deeper instabilities.Be cautious of sluffing in steep terrain.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Very Likely

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Dec 25th, 2016 2:00PM