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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 17th, 2021–Feb 18th, 2021

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Thursday will see the winds slowly begin to increase into the moderate range out of the west. Watch for windslabs in the upper snowpack to slowly become more reactive to a skiers weight. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Not much of a change on thursday except we can expect to see the winds increase slightly out of the west. Temperatures will be around -10C under a ski that is mainly a mix of sun and cloud.  

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were observed.

Snowpack Summary

The alpine has widespread wind slabs in the upper 40cm that are still providing good skiing as long as they are not too dense. Take the time to investigate these wind slabs so as to not be surprised in the density change. Cracking around your skis is a good indicator of this density change. The Jan 29 interface is down about 50-60cm and is producing a shear.

Terrain and Travel

  • Pay attention to isolated alpine features as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.
  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.

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.