Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 21st, 2014 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Deep Persistent Slabs.
ian jackson,
Parks Canada
Some new snow has refreshed the ski quality but also re-hidden many rocks just below the surface. Ride with care in these early season conditions!
Summary
Weather Forecast
Cool temperatures with moderate SW winds and little precipitation on monday. Tuesday afternoon/ overnight we may see 5-15 mm of precipitation and increased SW winds as a system passes over us. This will be short lived with a clearing trend on Wed.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm's of new snow along the divide has improved ski quality. This new snow has blown around by moderate SW winds to create thin, soft windslabs in the ALP and at TL. These windslabs sit on a surface hoar layer in many areas and will be one to watch in the future. The basal crusts/ facets persist providing a rotten foundation for this new snow.
Avalanche Summary
Cracking of new snow in immediate lees and soft slabs to size 1 reported in the Lake Louise area today.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Tuesday
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Natural avalanche activity has subsided but snowpack tests show that the weak facets at the basal level continue to be the big issue. The slab that rests on this weak structure may indicate some strength in places but in fact very little has changed.
Be aware of thin areas that may propogate to deeper instabilites.Be aware of the potential for full depth avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 22nd, 2014 4:00PM
