Fisera Ridge - Coldwater Lab snow surveys

Monthly snow survey conducted by U of S Coldwater Lab. Undesirable touring location, but great for science! Still great context for those traveling in alpine & wind affected terrain, especially in the Kananaskis region. Takeaways: snow pack heights are extremely variable in the alpine, and wind plays a major game here. Think about moving in areas where the snow pack thins and what snow layers are present below you.

No blowing snow and low winds on Fisera, a treat from the usual wind zone in this area of Kananaskis. Saw limited/ no blowing snow off Mount Allen/ Collembola/ Centennial. Snow not blown out of the forest canopies - yet. Light skiff of snow overlying the last storm cycle. Snow not yet redistributed at our elevation (2300m).

Snow height extremely variable across differing aspects. South alpine aspect at ridge top around 1m building to 3m downslope and back to 1m just within treeline over a 200m transect. This terrain is normally very wind affected, so extreme variability in HS here is normal and expected. Moving from ridge top to north aspect, HS varied from 20cm to 70cm over a 100m transect. Sun/wind crust present below the fresh snow. About 15-20cm down. New snow was bonding well, no cracking, slabbing or instabilities noticed.