Our snowpack seems to get more and more complex as each day passes. Its a good idea to dig and familiarize yourself with conditions before venturing into avalanche terrain.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Winds will continue overnight and tomorrow. They will be westerly and about 65km/hr at ridge top. Only a few flurries are expected with no real accumulation. Temperatures will hover around -12 degrees.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new today.
Snowpack Summary
Snow profiles in the Highwood area today offered a good glimpse of our current snowpack. At treeline, snow depth is anywhere from 60-100cm deep. The surface snow character is dependant on wind exposure. Some areas are a softer slab, while others are quite hard (kicking to get a ski edge in) and often hollow sounding. The recent rain crusts (Nov 26 & Nov 23) are down 40cm on average and are 2 distinct layers. These 2 crusts are very obvious and well bonded for the time being. We'll have our hands full when that changes...The Oct 31crust is breaking down and variable in its character. Some places it is intact and others it has broken down/compressed and become part of the "base" snowpack. In both instances, it is still considered a weak layer and failing in tests after moderate loads. In the alpine it is very similar, but the depths are proportionally deeper. The surface wind slabs are concerning as they are failing under lighter loads (CT easy SC). Windloading in ongoing, so expect these numbers to change rapidly if the wind continues.
matt.mueller,
Alberta Parks
