Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Mar 3 – 4, 2016Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

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

Several reports of skier triggered avalanches in the alpine on wind loaded features. Be cautious of recently opened areas of the park that have not seen skier traffic.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Expect slab development immediate to lee ridge lines and cross loaded features. Bonding should be suspect, progress cautiously into steeper terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Persistent weak layers of decomposed surface hoar, facets, and depth hoar are in many locations. These layers have been stubborn to trigger underfoot but could be triggered by cornice failure or from shallow spot and release to ground.

Weather Forecast

Tuesday night may bring 5-10cm of new snow and light South winds. Wednesday-Thursday will be -2 to -10, light flurries, and 1400-1700m freezing level. Thursday-Friday will warm up with increasingly strong Westerly winds.

Snowpack Summary

Weak crust on S through W aspects. Dry, facetted and generally unsupportive facets below this crust. Wind slab on lee aspects from previous SW winds and persistent slab in open areas at tree line. Poor travel conditions below tree line due to weak facetted snowpack. The Jan 28 SH/FC layer down 80cm remains a concern but is sporadically distributed.

Avalanche Summary

Loose dry sluffing from all aspects in the ALP out of steep rocky terrain up to sz 1. Several reports of remotely triggered slab avalanches in the alpine in wind loaded areas up to size 2. These slides went on old snow and are especially prevalent in areas that have not seen skier traffic this winter.

Confidence

Regions covered