Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 11th, 2024–Feb 12th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

The higher elevations and North aspects should be looked at more carefully as the buried supportive crust varies in thickness.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

One skier controlled size 1 loose dry occurred in the Black Prince area before skiing a steeper North aspect.

Snowpack Summary

The recent storm snow is settling and now averages 10 to 20cm over the Feb 3 crust. This crust is anywhere from 0.5cm to 5cm thick up to 2500m and is on the thinner side on North aspects. Natural sluffing has subsided but can still gain momentum with skier traffic on steeper slopes. Some wind slab development in the alpine has been reported. Ski quality is dust on crust in the alpine. The depth of the snowpack still varies from 70-130cm.

Weather Summary

Monday will be mostly cloudy with isolated flurries and a high of -7c in the alpine. Winds are forecast to be 15km/hour from the West. Freezing level is expected to be 1600m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
Be carefull with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.
Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.

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.