Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 26th, 2024–Nov 27th, 2024

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.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

A beautifully sunny day. It was nice to travel through the alpine today and see the lack of wind affect snow. That said, the winds are starting to increase and there is a lot of snow available for transport. Approach wind loaded terrain with caution until you can confirm or deny that it is there.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Teams skied in the Burstall pass area today and noticed no new avalanche activity. Some old loose dry out of steep terrain from a few days ago.

Snowpack Summary

The forecasting team travelled to Burstall pass today. We dug a full profile at 2260m right at treeline. We found an overall good looking snowpack that was 115cm deep and the October crust starts on the ground and is 13cm thick. The November crust was 30cm off the ground and was 5cm thick. Above that a pretty well settled snowpack with no other interfaces of concern at this location. As we approached the pass proper at 2350m the winds increased and there was some visible snow transport happening in the distance as well as fresh small windslabs starting to form in the immediate lee.

The Highwood area has had more wind affect than other areas. While it isn't wind scoured by any means, there are some higher areas showing waves and ripples.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night will see a night time low of -13 and no precip expected. Winds will be Light out of the West.

Wednesday: Cloudy with sunny periods with a day time high of -14. Winds will slightly increase to 20-35km/h out of the West. No precip expected.

For more weather check out: https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.