Kananaskis

Conditions are improving out there. Ski quality is still less than fantastic, but coverage is making travel a bit more reasonable. Enjoy exploring, and remember to approach blown in areas with caution.

Most notable today were two cornice collapses. Both were alpine ridges above cliffs and common performers. In both cases, the deeper basal/ground layers (Nov 10) were involved, but no slab propagations were noted.

Quite a change in our snowpack overnight. Most ridges are back to being gravel or old snow and many treed areas have been blown clean. This has led to a new batch of windslabs in most lee areas. Many of the avalanches from yesterday have been filled in with only the debris deposits being visible. There's a good chance the crust from the last rain storm is exposed in wind prone areas. While the windslabs are the main concern, don't forget the deeper layers are still players in the avalanche game. Dig down and keep track of the crust's location/condition and remember, in some areas the surface hoar may still be intact. This layer could be lingering and reactive as the crust fades away at its upper limit. Good luck out there! Travel still looks tedious getting out of valley bottom, but there could be some skiing tucked away at treeline elevations.

Overnight temperatures will be steady at -10 with a slight warm up tomorrow afternoon. Ridge winds will be mostly from the SW with a chance of a pivot to the NW in the late afternoon. Speeds will mostly be light, but if you're chasing summits, peak winds will be in the more moderate (40km/h) range. Flurries may bring a centimeter or two of new snow.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Approach lee and cross-loaded slopes with caution.