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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 11th, 2020–Dec 12th, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

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.

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.

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.