An all freeze and no melt situation continues, allowing good travel conditions in the alpine. Watch for pockets of wind slab; they may be reactive to people, solar radiation or additional wind loading.
Up to 20cm of snow has fallen in the alpine this week and is being blown into wind slabs by North winds. Use caution with recently loaded features.
Climbers on the Icefields Parkway Friday reported intense wind transport in the alpine and observed a large avalanche in the Stutfield basin, a wind slab on Mt Wilson, and a serac collapse from below the Normal (Ramp) route on Mt Athabasca which ran for approximately 800m.
Another pair of climbers triggered a small wind slab while approaching the AA Glacier on Friday morning.
Up to 20cm of snow has fallen in the alpine this week and has been redistributed by North winds. Melt-freeze crusts exist on all aspects other than North alpine. The snowpack at treeline and below is wet below a surface crust. High, North slopes have remained cool and have a dry, winter-like snowpack.
A ridge of high pressure over BC and a low over the prairies are going to leave Jasper with mostly clear weather in the West and center of the park, while the East experiences a little more cloud and unsettled weather.
A trace of new snow on Saturday night. At the Columbia icefields on Sunday, skies will be mostly clear and dry, winds will taper from 30km/h to 10km/h NE, and alpine temperatures will reach -11°C.
MondayFreezing levels will slowly start to climb starting on Monday, potentially reaching 2900m later this week.
