Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 25th, 2024–Nov 26th, 2024

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, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

Although the Danger rating has decreased to moderate, we are dealing with a very young snowpack who is trying to gain strength and our trust. The october layer is still producing repeatable results and should be on your mind when decision making.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A small ski and a flight around the Northern part of the spray showed no new avalanches last night or today.

Snowpack Summary

Teams in the field today had good travel conditions. The October/ November crust are keeping the snowpack supportive and the travel good. Where not previously travelled, there is 25-35cm of fresh snow that will be available to be transported by the slight increase in winds.

The Highwood area has had more wind affect than other areas. While it isn't wind scoured by any means, there are some higher areas showing waves and ripples. Interestingly, the loading pattern suggests both north and south flows last night. Expect some cross loading on east and west aspects.

A quick pit at treeline elevation (1950m) showed Height of snow at 67 cm. We did an extended column test and got full propagation on the october crust. See attached snow profile.

Weather Summary

Monday night will be a low of -11 with trace amounts of snow falling .

Tuesday should be a little bit sunnier, Day time highs -10 and a little bit more wind out of the west.

For more weather check out: https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.