Kananaskis Avalanche Forecast — Dec 11, 2020

Highlights

Cold, calm and clear weather is making for some fantastic days, albeit a little chilly to leave the car. Lots of barely buried hazards out there at all elevations- ski cautiously.

Avalanche problems

Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
1–2
New windslabs are stiff and more likely to trigger with the cold temps. Buried windslabs are the primary concern.
Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
2–3
There seems to be lots of variability with this layer. As always, thin areas transitioning to localized wind loaded pockets will be more sensitive.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Another chilly night tonight: -20C as the overnight low. A daytime high of -13 is expected. No snow is expected. Winds will continue to be light at tree line. Maybe 10km/hr from the west.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new today.

Snowpack Summary

Surface hoar is still building up to 2000m. Above that there is no significant growth. But the alpine surface hoar is still intact in most places. Surface faceting is also quite obvious, the snow is cold and "grabby" on the skis right now. The Dec 9 surface hoar continues to be elusive. Holes today didn't have it, and the new snow isn't cracking or settling. Speaking of new snow, there has been a lot of settlement in the snowpack. Storm snow is about 25cm at treeline. Also of note, the Nov crust is very thick and supportive in Commonwealth drainage. Faceting above/below the crust didn't appear to be a problem today.

Terrain and Travel

Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Don't let the desire for deep powder pull you into high consequence terrain.
Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

Kananaskis

Avalanche danger