Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 24 – 25, 2016Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

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

The change to MOD at treeline reflects the improving trend with the Feb 11th layer. Keep in mind, at MOD, human triggering is still possible in specific areas. Safe travel still requires attention and good use of terrain.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    The slabs above this layer are variable in terms of their location and stiffness. Recent tests have shown an improving trend, but its a good idea to stick to supported terrain features. Frequent digging will also help with the variability question.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–5
    Large triggers are the main concern in terms of triggering this layer. Keep an eye on overhead threats such as cornices. The base of alpine cliffs have been a common theme with the recent avalanche observations.

Confidence

High

Weather Forecast

Overnight lows will reach -16. A mix of sun and cloud for tomorrow. Alpine highs will be around -3 with steady west winds reaching 25km/hr. The freezing level will approach valley bottom.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new today.

Snowpack Summary

Below treeline is still a blend of crusts and newer snow. Travel is reasonable with ski penetrations of 20-30cm in untracked terrain. The snowpack has continued to improve at the treeline elevation. Today's investigation had a hard windslab on east aspects down 40cm. The bond with the underlying snow appeared to be quite good, but given the current variability, it is a hard put a lot of weight on the test results. This slab was limited to exposed areas and is thought to be left over from the reverse loading event from Feb 8. The alpine is still soft wind slab  mixed in with hard slabs. Cornices are on all aspects and in some cases, quite large and intimidating.

Regions covered