Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 11 – 12, 2020Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 7 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Wind slabs are the main concern, as human triggering of these slabs is very likely.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–3

    Yet another generation of wind slabs has been recently formed. These are everywhere in the Alpine and extend down into Treeline. 

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–3

    Cornices continue to grow. Any cornice failure could be enough to trigger a significant slide on the underlying slopes.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1.5–3

    Still concern for the weak layer deep in the snowpack. Triggering is more concerning in shallow snowpack areas.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
  • Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain.
  • Extra caution is needed around cornices under the current conditions.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a deep persistent slab.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Thursday will start off cold and mostly sunny before switching to a snowy afternoon and temps up to -12 at ridgetop. 3 to 5cm of snow is expected in the afternoon with another 5cm on Friday. Winds will be light to moderate from the NW on Thursday.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new observed today , but we did note further evidence of the recent avalanche cycle up to size 3.0 on all aspects and at all elevations.

Snowpack Summary

Another 5 to 10cm of new snow in the past 24 hours. Storm snow from the last 7 days now sits at between 60 and 80cm. The extreme wind event out of the SW on Tuesday has created yet another generation of wind slabs at treeline and above. Forecasters observed shooting cracks and very poor skiing at treeline due to a 15cm thick wind slab. Expect areas of surface sun crust on steep solar aspects, particularly at lower elevations.

Regions covered