Kananaskis

Sustained winds last night and today have created even more widespread wind slabs, or scoured areas in the alpine. Treeline is bit better, but still watch for slabs in the transitional terrain.

No new avalanches observed or reported today.

A long walk today gave us a good impression of the overall snowpack character. Below treeline is well settled in most places, but there are pockets that have lost their way and become weak and occasionally bottomless. Treeline is similar, but recent winds have in some ways helped by building windslabs. Steeper treeline areas with light tree coverage were a bit creepy because of the potential for thin spots/tree triggers. Our aging slabs seem to either be bulletproof concrete, or facetted and less likely to propagate. Sheltered areas still have good, settled snow. The alpine is a fantastic example of what wind can do. We have gravel, low grade sastrugi, hard slab, soft slab, old weak slab and in some case even dust on crust that offers good skiing. Good snow can still be found, but you really have to look for sheltered areas. We had some whumphing in open alpine areas, and even some cracking on steep alpine rolls.

Tomorrow will see the warmth arrive, and with it some wind. The morning low will be around -3, with an afternoon high of +2. Skies will be cloudy for much of the day with flurries giving a few centimeters. Winds will be the main event. Expect sustained westerly winds round the 60km/hr mark. Valley winds will also be gusty and variable in direction.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind-exposed terrain.
• Avoid steep terrain, including convex rolls, or areas with a thin, rocky, or variable snowpack.