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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 23rd, 2022–Jan 24th, 2022

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.

The winds are relentless! Out today we had gusts well over 100km/h. The skiing has suffered because of that. We found a couple good turns in Sheltered tree line and below forested features

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Tomorrow a slight change with the potential for some flurries, Up to 5cm. The winds are forecasted to be light out of the NW and overall a cloudy day that is clearing in the evening. Temps will hover around -10

Avalanche Summary

Forecasters did the purple knob traverse today. Conditions were as bad as some of the forecasters with 15+ years have ever seen it! Wind slabs that were cracking, but not moving. Sastrugi that will catch your ski tips, and the ski line stripped down to rock in many locations.

No new avalanches observed or reported today.

Yesterday a good MIN was posted that highlights the early season weak layers (Basal weakness) waking up in a very thin cross loaded feature.

 

Snowpack Summary

Moist snow on some solar aspects (that will be frozen into a crust Monday morning), but this was limited somewhat by wind and occasional clouds on Sunday. Widespread wind effect and wind slabs in the alpine and open areas at treeline. In sheltered locations up to 15cm of lower density snow overlies previous surfaces, which gives acceptable skiing. The Dec crust layer down 100 to 140cm is faceting and produces moderate to hard shears. Forecasters continue to keep a close eye on this persistent weak layer, despite a long spell of minimal activity associated with it. If/when it re-awakens, large avalanches are possible.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • Be aware that wet activity at low elevations is a classic situation for step-down failures in deeply buried persistent weak layers.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a persistent slab.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine 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.

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.