Avalanche Forecast

Snow will continue along the Alberta Rockies Wednesday morning, spreading south through Kananaskis region and reaching the U.S. border by the afternoon. Another local 5cm of snowfall is possible. The strong southwest winds will begin to taper off Wednesday afternoon with gusts in the 70-100 km/h range dropping to 60 km/h. Freezing levels will stay near 1500 m in the Kananaskis Region.  

A few new loose dry avalanche up to sz 1 were observed on the Black Prince headwall. Otherwise no new activity was observed. 

Lots of variability within the upper snowpack currently with some areas highly wind affected and others with 25cm of low density snow on the surface. Being heads up for these windslabs up to 40cm deep is the key thing to note. As you transition into wind affected terrain look and feel for the surface of the snow to become wind affected. We did see some light to moderate SW winds on Tuesday moving snow around but it felt like the first day not in a hurricane. In some areas the overhead cornices look large and looming so be sure to keep your head looking up. Otherwise the midpack in the region continues to settle and strengthen with the basal november crust near the ground still in our minds despite no recent avalanches on this interface. Thin areas are places to tread carefully as you may awaken the basal layers.  

• Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
• Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and wind exposure.
• Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.