Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
Overnight 5-10cm of new snow fell with very light winds. Recent snow is now totally around 20cm at treeline which is beginning to improve the skiing. Continue to watch for thin areas and pockets of windslabs along ridges and in cross loaded features.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed in the past 24hrs. Staff were installing a new weather station on Jan 1 so observations were limited.
Snowpack Summary
10-20cm of low density snow has fallen in the past week. This new snow is hiding previous windslabs so be curious about this problem in the snowpack as you continue to gain elevation.
The Dec 7th temperature crust can be found on solar aspects up to 2500m down 30-50cm and the weak basal facets that once were the November and October crusts are close to ground. Thin areas where the basal layers could be triggered should be treated with caution.
Any avalanche in the upper snowpack will likely involve the entire snowpack and scrub down to ground so keep this in mind as you travel.
Weather Summary
See table, cooler temps will continue.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Windslabs in the upper snowpack are common in alpine areas.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Deep Persistent Slabs
If triggered the surface wind slabs may step down to this layer and involve the entire winters snowpack.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5