The alpine and treeline have been heavily wind-affected. Expect wind slabs may be reactive to rider triggering.
A weaker layer further down in the snowpack is still reactive.
Choose terrain that you are sure of and assess conditions as you travel.
The alpine and treeline have been heavily wind affect.
Small avalanches may trigger a bigger avalanche by 'stepping down' to the weak and faceted crystals buried deeper within the snowpack.
Buried layers of surface hoar and facets exist 50 to 75 cm down and are showing reactivity in snowpack tests. Avalanches on this layer are possible where a cohesive slab exists above it. This layer could be triggered by a heavy load caused by a rider in a shallow snow area or by the weight of a smaller avalanche.
A natural size two avalanche was reported to have released on the weak layer created in mid-November. Our neighbours to the immediate north in Kananaskis Country reported evidence of reactivity of this layer on convex rolls. This same layer continues to be reactive in snowpack testing.
If you head into the backcountry, support your community by submitting a report to the Mountain Information Network. Thank you to those who have.
Since Thursday night up to 20 cm has fallen in some parts of our region. In the alpine and at the treeline strong westerly winds have moved much of this snow around. The new snow and new wind slabs are covering a variety of surfaces, mainly older wind slabs. These were made by winds produced from all directions. It is expected that the wind has built wind slabs upon wind slabs in some areas while in other areas the wind will have stripped away the majority of the snow.
Where the wind had less of an impact on the snow you can expect to find around 10 to 20 cm of soft snow sitting on 30 to 40 cm of more settled snow. Buried 45 to 65 cm down lies a weak layer comprising of surface hoar and facets. This layer has been shown to be reactive in snowpack tests and showed be kept on your radar for the time being. Further down the snow is sugary and faceted with a rain crust near the ground but this lower snowpack appears to be consolidating.
Total snowpack depths at treeline elevations are 75 to 155 cm.
Saturday Night
Cloudy, 3 to 7 cm accumulation, winds southwest 20 km/h, -3 C at 1500 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with some sunny periods, up to 2 cm accumulation, winds northeast 10 km/h, -8 C at 1500 m.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds northeast 15 km/h, -10 C at 1500 m.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, no accumulation, winds north 10 km/h, -7 C at 1500 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
