Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
Fast travel out there right now but the quality of skiing is generally poor. The blue sky is making for some gorgeous days and the moderate temps forecast for next week will allow for some great ice climbing opportunities!
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches reported or observed.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 5cm of over the past few days at upper elevations but this amount tapers to only 1-2cm in the valley floors. This season's snowpack is shallow and facetted. Eastern areas have very weak snowpacks (sometimes not holding the weight of a skier) while areas further west are stronger, even while still being mainly facets. Snow depths at Treeline range from 60 to 120cm. The early season crusts at the base of the snowpack have largely broken down. In isolated locations in the Alpine there are pockets of wind slab. These may be more sensitive to triggering in steep and unsupported terrain. Watch for crust on steep solar aspects. Overall, skiing isnt the best activity to consider at this time...
Weather Summary
Winds will be out of the North on Saturday with cool temps in the am around -20 then warming up to -10ish by mid day. A trace of new snow is forecast but not enough to change the current danger scale.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind prone features, such as lee and cross-loaded gullies could have dense wind slabs.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2