Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Nov 20 – 21, 2013Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Look for winds to pick up and increase slab development. A skier triggered Size 2 soft slab in the Tryst Chutes area on Wednesday AM resulted in some limb injuries to one skier - heads up out there as the weak basal layers cannot support much load.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Watch for loose dry sluffing out of steeper terrain. Now that greater amounts of snow are on the ground it will be even more important for Ice climbers to be aware of overhead terrain.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Deeper and more cohesive storm slabs will continue to develop in Alpine/TL terrain with recent snow and winds. Winds are forecasted to continue to be in the moderate to strong range over the next 24-48 hours so we expect further slab development .

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Winds increasing and temps will gradually increase with -12 in the valley bottoms on Thursday rising to -6 by Friday PM

Avalanche Summary

Numerous loose and slab avalanches up to Size 3 were observed on Wednesday AM - most had occurred during the storm event, 

Snowpack Summary

Tuesdays storm snow is slow to settle due to the cold temps.  Winds were much calmer than forecast in the AM on Wednesday but wind values are forecast to steadily increase over the next 24-48 hours.  Storm slabs will thicken and become more cohesive and subject to skier triggering.

Regions covered