Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
Well there is some snow forecast for the weekend! Not alot, but its something! Not much is changing out there at this time. Hard wind slabs and deep persistent slabs dominate the landscape.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new observed in the last couple of days.
Snowpack Summary
Strong winds have stripped all available snow and left hard slabs and scoured to ground where exposed. The early December rain crust is still present down about 30 cm but is starting to show signs of breaking down in valley bottom areas. Weak basal facets and depth hoar complete the lower snowpack. Overall conditions more closely resemble early November as opposed to Early January!
Weather Summary
Temperatures will be around -8C on Wednesday with light winds out of the SW. Unfortunately, no new snow is in the forecast......
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Approach lee and cross-loaded slopes with caution.
- Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Avalanche Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
This problem will be with us all season. At higher elevations there is more concern that these deep persistent weak layers could be human triggerable.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3
Wind Slabs
Just as you transition from treeline into the alpine watch for wind slabs. Lee and cross-loaded features are the main areas of concern.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5