The snow has taken a turn for the better. Sheltered areas at treeline are the place to find decent snow right now. Watch for new slabs as you approach treeline.
Summary
Confidence
Good
Weather Forecast
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries tomorrow. High of -7 at 2500m. Winds gusting to 50km/hr from the west.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing from the last 24hrs, but there is a fair bit of older action from open areas at treeline and immediate lee areas at lower the alpine elevations. Sz2's were spotted mostly on the south & south east aspects. The eastern side of the road also had some recent activity in the alpine. Most involved the basal layers.
Snowpack Summary
We are dealing with a complex snowpack right now. Below treeline has 16cm's of new snow sitting on top the January 31 crust. In some places we've found surface hoar on top of the crust, and in others a thin layer facets. So far the distribution of the surface hoar is unknown. Beneath the crust, the January 16th surface hoar is also present in unpredictable places. Luckily, there does not appear to be an avalanche problem with any of these layers. At treeline, the snowpack starts to have a series of windslabs that are reactive to stability tests. In today's profile (top of the Dog leg run), immediatley below the Jan 31st crust there is a thin, hard windslab that is reacting in the moderate range (CT11, SC down 20cm's). This suggests there are human triggerable windslabs out there in the right piece if terrain. At upper treeline and alpine, the winds continued to transport snow. A reverse loading pattern was noted today. The new slabs are sitting on a hardslab that likely has a poor bond. These slabs are easily spotted and avoidable.
matt.mueller,
Alberta Parks
