Skiing is bad. Ice climbing looks good. Get after the routes you want while the danger is relatively low and the temperatures remain mild.
Weather Forecast
A minor system embedded in a southwesterly flow will cross the Jasper region for Wednesday. Expect increasing winds, temperatures will fall slightly and no more than 5cm of new snow.
Snowpack Summary
Most slopes at treeline and alpine areas are seriously wind effected, with hard slabs in some areas, and scouring to rocks in others. These hard slabs overly a sporadically found weakness down 10-40 cm (Jan 4 surface hoar and facets). The lower snowpack is facetted and of variable strength, but overall stronger than expected for this time of year.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed along the Icefields Parkway today.
Problems
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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.