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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 25th, 2017–Jan 26th, 2017

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
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

The danger is at moderate currently, but forecasters are still approaching Alpine and treeline terrain as if its at considerable.  We are unwilling to commit to bigger terrain. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Cloudy with sunny periods.Precipitation: Nil.Alpine temperature: High -6 °C.Ridge wind northwest: 25 km/h.Freezing level: 1300 metres.

Avalanche Summary

No new natural avalanche activity

Snowpack Summary

Below treeline travel is fairly grim.  Expect ski penetrations to ground in many areas and the best solution to getting up to the skiing is via an old established up-track.  At treeline and above the upper snowpack has 30-40cm of settled snow that is overlying the weak basal facets.  Moderate compression tests that are sudden collapse in nature are being observed at this interface.  Thin weak spots are the most likely areas where a skier could cause a failure.  As a result choose supported terrain, and avoid thin areas.  The only skiing to be found is at treeline and above.  If you are looking for turns below treeline, look elsewhere!

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

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.