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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 12th, 2021–Feb 13th, 2021

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
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Kananaskis.

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. 

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.

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.