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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 24th, 2022–Jan 25th, 2022

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Even though the hazard is moderate, hard wind slabs can be difficult to evaluate, especially in larger alpine features. Your best skiing will be found in sheltered areas.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

No snow on the horizon but it is still important to dream....

Tuesday: Cloudy with sunny periods and a high of -7c in the alpine. Expect winds to be Westerly at 45km/hr. An alpine inversion is expected which means that it will colder in the valley bottom and warmer up high.

Wednesday: Cloudy with sunny periods with temperatures from -13c to -8c.

Avalanche Summary

Forecasters were in the Aster Lake area today and did not see any new avalanche activity.

Snowpack Summary

A few cm's of snow today from convective flurries. Widespread wind effect and wind slabs in the alpine and open areas at treeline. These hard wind slabs can be tricky to evaluate because they have the potential to propagate but gives someone the impression underfoot that the base is solid. Take the time to dig and evaluate before committing to larger slopes. In sheltered areas you can find up to 15cm of lower density snow that overlies previous surfaces, which gives acceptable skiing. The Dec crust layer is down 100 to 140cm is faceting and produces moderate to hard shears. Forecasters continue to keep a close eye on this persistent weak layer, despite a long spell of minimal activity associated with it. If/when it re-awakens, large avalanches are possible.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a persistent slab.

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.