Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 21 – 24, 2026Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 6 months ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Touchy windslabs have been building in upper elevations up to 60cm thick. Cooler temperatures are coming after the warm up this past week.

RUGGED travel below treeline. Give the snowpack time to settle out.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    Recent snow of up to 500cm, warms temps and strong westerly winds are creating touchy windslabs. This problem is more isolated at treeline.

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Cornices have grown large over the past few days. Give them a wide berth.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    2–3.5

    Recent avalanche avalanche activity in the top 100-150cm of the snow pack has been observed due to the warm temps.

Confidence

Low

  • We are uncertain due to a limited number of field observations.

Avalanche Summary

The recent widespread historical avalanche cycle is beginning to slow down but it hasn't ended just yet. Recent windslabs on Saturday were still failing in alpine areas as the winds increased throughout the day.

The majority of recent avalanche activity looks to be initiated by Wind/Storm slabs in the alpine then pulling out a wet slab around 2400m that ran on possibly the Jan 27th SH/FC interface.

Snowpack Summary

Temperatures went below freezing on Saturday and as a result there was a 5cm thick supportive crust in the valley floors. Under this crust, the snowpack is generally wet and isothermal to ground up to around 2400m. The cooler temperatures will take a few days to penetrate the snowpack here.

Above 2400m the recent precipitation mainly fell as snow and there is up to 50cm of snow that as of Saturday being redistributed by moderate westerly winds forming new windslabs in the upper elevations. 5cm of new also fell throughout the day on Saturday.

Field observations at treeline and into the Alpine are still very limited and there is lots of uncertainty in this area at this time.

Weather Summary

Temperatures at treeline are forecast to continue cooling overnight as clear weather begins to return to the region. Sunday will be cool again with daytime highs around -10C and moderate westerly winds. Snow is forecast beginning towards the start of next week.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Keep your guard up at all elevations. Wind slab formation has been extensive.
  • A hard crust on the snow surface will help strengthen the snowpack, but may cause tough travel conditions.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

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