Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 12 – 13, 2021Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 6 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

Still cool out there, keep shorter days in the plan. Continued surface faceting from the cold weather, slufffing in stepper terrain big enough to push a skier around or into a terrain trap. Winds are increasing so continuous evaluation of snow over the Jan 29 interface. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    This covers the wind slabs in the alpine and a thinner more reactive layer at treeline and below.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

The cold weather should be moving out over the next few days, looks to be some cooler nights but better day time temperatures, today day was a slight inversion and felt reasonable in the sun. Winds will be between 30-40km/hr from the East, mix of sun and cloud as the warmer air mixes in. 

Avalanche Summary

Several loose dry in steep terrain. Up to size 1.5

Snowpack Summary

Surface Faceting making it easy to get pretty good sluffs going in steeper terrain, entraining some mass. 60cm of settled snow overlying the Jan 29 wind slab interface. Take the time to dig and evaluate this interface as there is still variability with it, as well check for crusts on the south facing slopes. Wind effect in the alpine and our usual concerns for lee features and cross loaded gullies.

EAST SIDE OF SPRAY LAKES ROAD: There is significantly less snow on this side. The ski quality was good but not great coverage. the Nov. crust will be a problem, in the shallower snow pack. 

Terrain and Travel

  • Pay attention to isolated alpine features as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.
  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.

Regions covered