Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 28 – 29, 2019Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Good skiing with this recent snowfall.  Keep clear of thin areas.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2.5
    There are new slabs from the wind as well as buried slabs. In both cases, expect to find the in immediate lee areas.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3
    Respecting shallow areas can't be overstated right now. If this layer fails, it will almost certainly be from a shallow areas. Bouldery areas and sparse trees are examples of trouble spots.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Tuesday will be mostly sunny with temperatures starting at -20c and warming during the day to -6c. Winds will be light out of the NW. Wednesday is forecast to be cloudy with a chance of flurries and a high of -6c.

Avalanche Summary

One size 2 avalanche was observed on a NE aspect on Mt. Birdwood in the last 24hrs.One size 2 avalanche was observed on a E aspect on Snowpeak.

Snowpack Summary

10cm of low density snow fell last night and was being moved around a bit with the moderate NW winds today. Some soft wind slabs were observed in lee areas in the alpine. The warm temps from the weekend has densed up the top 10cm of the snowpack just below the storm snow. This layer was producing moderate compression tests down 23cm from the top. Besides some of the surface instabilities, a generally well settled upper snowpack sits on 50-60cm of basal facets that are more reactive in shallower areas. The predictability of where to find thin and thicker areas is very challenging. There is a strong likelihood to trigger an avalanche from a thin spot and it has the potential to go big.

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