Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2025–Mar 16th, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

Tricky is the word. The snow pack is not to be trusted. Don't let the allure of fresh powder lead you into avalanche terrain. Simple, low angle, unconnected terrain and good group management are key components to a safe day at the moment.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Sz 2.5 Skier accidental avalanche in the Black Prince area on a North East Facing slope at 2200m. The avalanche occurred in 35+ deg terrain and appearred to have failed on the Jan 30th interface down 1m deep in places. The avalanche was 100m wide and ran down into thick timber. One skier was involved.

Continued evidence of last weeks cycle with avalanche up to sz 3 are being observed. 2 new Sz 2 windslabs were observed in the Murrays Twins area initiating in a steeper SE alpine feature.

Two skiers reported a Skier accidental sz 1.5 avalanche to the south of black prince on a south east aspect treeline feature around 2300m. The suspected bed layer for this avalanche was the Jan30th interface.

Snowpack Summary

5cm overnight adds to a significant snowfall event over the last 5 days. New snow heights vary between 60cm-100cm. Winds have been very light. This snow is settling rapidly with the warmer temps. This new snow is overlying a crust from early March on the solar aspects and a mixture of facets and hard windslabs on more polar aspects. Windslabs have developed within the recent snow 10-30cm thick that are reactive to skier traffic. Deeper in the snowpack the problematic Jan 30th facet interface is down 60-90cm and commonly producing sudden collapse sheers at this interface. A failure in the windslabs will likely step down to the Jan30th interface. Conservative terrain choices that avoid being attached to a bigger piece of terrain is the way to go right now. Forecasters are sticking to low angle, well supported terrain only.

Weather Summary

Saturday: 4 cm of snow. Low of -10 and Southwest winds.

Sunday: Cloudy with sunny periods, Trace precip. Day time high of -8

15km/h West winds.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.