Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Nov 9 – 10, 2013Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
No rating
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Highlights

Skiing is still rather desperate out there at this time.  Some good turns were found in Alpine terrain on the weekend but be prepared to work hard for them.  Its a long season and patience is a virtue.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–4
    Watch for pockets of skier triggerable wind slabs in alpine areas.  These pockets may not extend across a large slope but the would be big enough to bury you if you are able to trigger them

Confidence

Fair - Due to limited field observations for the entire period

Weather Forecast

We may see a few cm of new snow throughout the weekend but overall we are not expecting a significant amount of new snow.  On Tuesday we can look forward to warm and windy conditions as a chinook is forecast to roll through the region.

Avalanche Summary

Evidence of an older (over 48hrs) cycle up to sz 2.5 was observed with the majority of these slides occurring on N and E aspects.  A few loose dry Na up to sz 1 were observed on solar aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Above 2200m generally 50cm -100cm of snow depending on area.  Field tests in the Aster Lake area on a morainal wall at 2600m showed a generally well settled early season snowpack with HS of 97cm.  Easy resistant planer sheers can be found in the top 20cm of the snowpack where it has been slightly wind affected and a more moderate resistant planar sheer can be found down 50-60cm.  The 1027 Crust/Interface is down 70cm but the snow above this layer seems to be bonding well.  Field observations at this time are very limited and we know that there is currently lots of variability in snowpack depths throughout the region.  At treeline and below.  Snowpack is generally just at or below threshold depths for avalanches to occur.

Regions covered