Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Feb 22nd, 2016 7:05AM

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

matt.mueller, Alberta Parks

Kananaskis.

Invest some time when assessing the snowpack. We are seeing huge variability within treeline & alpine terrain. Even small changes in aspect, angle and surface conditions can make for a very different snowpack.

Summary

Confidence

High - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Cloudy with sunny periods tomorrow. The cloud cover will be thin, so expect some sun to sneak through. Winds will be out of the west and reasonably calm. Ridge winds are expected to be 20-35km/hr. The freezing level is also expected to stay below valley bottom with an alpine high of -9.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new seen today.

Snowpack Summary

Not much for new snow out there today. The southern areas had a few cm's of new snow to cover the low elevation crust from yesterday. There are now a series of crusts that extend up to 1900m on all aspects, and up to 2300m on solar aspects. The main crust of concern is the Feb 11th that is down 20-40cm (at treeline) and more prevalent on South aspects. The bond with this layer appears to be improving, but because of the complex snowpack it is hard to have any widespread confidence with it. Beneath that, the Jan 6th is the next concern. It is down 60-80cm at treeline and is slowly improving. Similar to the Feb 11th, this layer is a tricky one to trust. The general thought is it needs more time to build our trust.

Problems

Wind Slabs

The recent storm slabs have been moved into this category. This problem is now a combination of surface and buried windslabs. It's improving, but steep terrain is still concerning. Especially on S-SW aspects where the crust is more pronounced.

Avoid steep Southerly aspects.>Choose well supported terrain without convexities.>

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

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

2 - 4

Persistent Slabs

The "low probability, high consequence" phrase applies to this layer. Large triggers (cornices or other, smaller avalanches) are especially concerning.

Avoid steep slopes below cornices.>Minimize exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, large avalanches may reach run out zones.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

2 - 5

Valid until: Feb 23rd, 2016 2:00PM