Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Jan 7 – 8, 2017Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

It's a great year to be an ice climber as ice conditions are fantastic in the Jasper area.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Cold temperatures and hard slab conditions make triggering less likely. Triggering from shallow spots remains a possibility.

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Arctic temperatures faceting the surface snow causing it to lose cohesion and release loose dry avalanches in steep alpine rocky terrain. Particularly concerning for ice-climbers in confined terrain.

Weather Forecast

Expect highs around -14 and cold lows with light SW winds.  No snow through the weekend but 10 cm possible on Monday.  The bitter cold returns and will continue through next week.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack is shallow, faceted and weak.  The Nov. crust can still be found about 30 cm from ground but is faceting into large depth hoar.  The upper half of the snowpack has layers of wind slabs. 

Avalanche Summary

Small loose dry avalanches were reported in the Maligne Lake area on Friday out of steep rock slab alpine features.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations on Saturday

Regions covered