Snowfall amounts vary greatly throughout the park with 10cm of new snow on the Icefields & 35cm on Maligne Lake Road. Snowpack is extremely variable. Cautious evaluation is required for each new zone
Maligne Lake Road is Closed. Updates at Alberta 511
10-15 cm of recent snow is available for transport on the Icefileds Parkway. This new snow will make previous wind slab difficult to spot. Be on the lookout for reverse loading caused by northerly winds on Tuesday.
Persistent slabs sit over different weak layers depending on elevation & aspect. Above 1950m a buried facet layer down 20-40cm is the primary concern. Below 1950m, a faceting crust down 40-70 is presenting a more stubborn version of a similar problem
Dry loose avalanches will become more reactive as the temperature drops Tuesday - Wednesday.
10-15cm of storm snow sits over 10-30cm of wind slab in the alpine & at tree line. Buried surface hoar down 30cm was observed in a wind sheltered area near weeping wall today. The mid pack has two layers of concern. The dec 26 facet layer is buried 30-50cm down with a weak crust facet combo down 50-80cm below 1950m. Snowpack depth varies 50-200cm.
The Maligne area received significantly more snow then the rest of our tenure due to localized upslope conditions. Several size 2 storm slabs were observed near medicine lake on a West aspect at tree line. These storm slabs may have failed on preserved surface hoar.
No new avalanche activity observed on the Icefields Parkway Jan 31.
Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries and trace precipitation.
Alpine High -16 C.
Ridge wind NW 10-25 km/hr
Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. No precipitation.
Alpine High -23 C
West wind 10-20 km/h.
Thursday: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries and trace precipitation.
Alpine high -13.
Wind West 15km/h
