Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 4th, 2025–Jan 6th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

A bit of snow has helped the skiing but its still pretty thin in alot of areas. When the winds increase, watch for windslabs to build quickly.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A few loose dry avalanches up to sz 1 were observed throughout the day from steep unskiable terrain.

Snowpack Summary

20-30cm of low density snow can be found at treeline that is overlying a variety of previous snow surfaces from facetted snow to windslabs. The upper snowpack has generally been unaffected by winds except in specific areas such as ridgelines and cols.

Buried windslabs exist down 20-50cm in the snowpack but field observations have shown that these slabs are stubborn to trigger.

The weak basal facets are still a concern and have a potential to be triggered from thin snowpack areas which are still plentiful at this time. Stability has been improving but we are still avoiding steep thin features where triggering this weakness is still a possibility.

See the attached photo of the Burstall Pass profile site.

Weather Summary

See table.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Pay attention to the wind; once it starts to blow, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.