Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Dec 24 – 25, 2018Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Whumpfing and cracking continue to occur. Avoid big slopes or terrain with high consequences. Watch those steep roof lines Santa!

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1.5–3
    Slabs are everywhere in lee and cross-loaded terrain in the Alpine and open areas at Treeline. The Dec 10th interface is either surface hoar or facets, and both are producing shears. Human triggering is very likely in wind loaded features.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1.5–3
    Some of the recent larger avalanches may have stepped down to this layer.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Christmas Day will bring a mix of sun and cloud, light SW winds, temperatures between -15 and -20 and no new snow. For Boxing Day expect much of the same but about 5 to 10 degrees warmer.

Avalanche Summary

A couple of new naturally triggered slab avalanches were observed today in steep Alpine terrain. Overall the natural activity has tapered, but there has been recent activity up to size 3.0 primarily on East and North aspects over the past few days. Wide propagations have been observed and some slides have reached the valley bottoms.

Snowpack Summary

Wind slabs are widespread in the Alpine and at Treeline, with slabs up to 120cm thick. The Dec 10th surface hoar/facet interface remains active, with easy to moderate shears down 40 to 60cm. The basal layers are very weak and facetted, with occasional ski penetration to ground when you leave the up-track. Forecasters experienced a very large settlement today which indicates the snowpack remains prime for human-triggering.

Regions covered