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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 28th, 2020–Nov 29th, 2020

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Windslabs are widespread in the alpine and even down into treeline. Sheltered areas will provide the best skiing opportunities. Watch for thin areas around these windslabs where they may be easier to trigger. 

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Saturday will be pretty similar to SUnday with ridgetop winds around 40KPH out of the SW and temperatures around -5C. The next snow in the forecast is expected on monday and its not gonna be much...  

Avalanche Summary

Loose dry sluffing from steep terrain related to wind transport at the upper elevations. No new slab avalanche activity was observed. 

Snowpack Summary

A few cm of new snow fell overnight with 5-8cm depending upon where you go. Unfortunately, the damage has been done by the strong winds earlier this week. Many windward slopes are stripped bare and lee features are loaded with hard windslabs. Watch for thin areas around these windslabs where you may get them to fail. Due to there density they will also likely propagate across a feature. The November crust is down 40-70cm and producing mixed results from Moderate to no result. Evaluate this layer as you travel. Avalanche in the upper snowpack may step down to this interface

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.

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.

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.