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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 11th, 2012–Dec 12th, 2012

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.

Current weather forecasts do not indicate any major changes over the next couple of days.  Be cautious in the presence of recently formed windslabs which vary considerable in thickness but should still be considered sensitive to human triggering.

Confidence

Fair

Weather Forecast

5-7cm new snow possible overnight.  Upper elevation winds veering from W to NW and dropping through evening and overnight.  Gradual decline in temperatures.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity observed in travels today.  Ski cutting on top of small cornices did not produce any results on 30+deg slopes below.

Snowpack Summary

Test profile 2200m, N asp at Treeline in location subject to windloading.  CTE down 14cm and down 23 cm within storm snow  layers and on top of a hard windslab- easily skier triggerable.  Still finding consistent hard test results down 130cm on top of Nv raincrust at this site.  Concern regarding this layer is in areas of thin snowcover.

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.