Elkford East
Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 28th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 27th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Cornices.
Published: Mar 26th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Cornices, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 25th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 24th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 23rd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 22nd, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 21st, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 20th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 19th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 18th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 17th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 16th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 15th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Storm Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 15th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 14th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 13th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 12th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 11th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 10th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Wind Slabs, Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 9th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 8th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 7th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 6th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs.
Published: Mar 5th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Wind Slabs.
Published: Mar 4th, 2025Avalanche Forecast
Problems: Persistent Slabs, Loose Wet.
Published: Mar 3rd, 2025a bit uninspiring
<p>Today on the west side of the Alexander we found a generally shallow snowpack. There was very little snow (read dirt) below 1600 m. At our top out point at 2150 m we found a 200 cm snow depth on north-facing slopes. We are still finding soft snow on the north slopes but it is settling and bonding. The upper pack has a few old wind slabs that seem to be bonding to previous surfaces with only resistant test results. The mid-pack is well consolidated, a facet layer can be found down 95 cm that we suspect is the mid-January. No significant test results but we will keep an eye out for the mid-January layer where the snowpack is shallow, especially during the next warm-up. Below this, the lower facets are rounding.
Test results (ECTX, CTH (21) RP down 28 cm on decomposing fragments, CTH (28) BRK down 95 on size 2 facets, PST 50/100 down 95 on size 2 facets)
While the views today were spectacular there was not much for good riding. </p>
southrockies,
Wednesday 5th April, 2023 4:30PM
Cornice/solar avalanche
<p>Today was a recon day so we didn't get on our skis and topped out at 1800 m on our sleds. This area is a low snow area with only 80 cm at 1800 m. Cornices are large and looming and it's possible that a small chunk triggered this during yesterday's clear skies and strong solar input during the day.</p>
southrockies,
Tuesday 7th March, 2023 3:10PM
Indefatigable
<p>Kananaskis lakes area got the 10 cm overnight at 2200m with little wind effect that the Spray lakes didn't. Made for good skiing. Not much wind today but picked up from the north in the moderate range at the end of the day. Due south aspects had a supportive melt freeze crust with 15 cm on top. Our pit on NE aspect at 2300m,HS135, just below ridge line in glades gave easy compression test on buried 1F wind slabs surround by 4F facets at 100cm RP. And below that, at the saw in the moderate range in the depth hoar At 50 cm. Couple tiny loose dry from the morning sun.
Size 1.5 Na slab Avalanche 80cm crown on East aspect of invincible between 1-2 days old. Ran between 2400 and 2200 m.
</p>
wardsbd,
Tuesday 14th February, 2023 8:40PM
Avalanche
Brian Day,
Wednesday 8th February, 2023 6:00PM
Lodgepole
<p>We drove to 42.5 km of the Lodgepole and skinned up to our pit location at about 1900 m. After a little snow scienceing we skinned up further before pulling skins and skiing back to the truck. Snow conditions were good with boot top powder and good lines to be had in mellow open areas avoiding running into burnt trees and deep expert-level sled tracks. We saw some natural avalanche activity that was probably from yesterday caused by wind slabs creating size 1.5 in steep rocky terrain. Other than logging trucks, we had the zone to ourselves. </p>
southrockies,
Friday 3rd February, 2023 2:30PM
Wind loading up Alexander
<p>Went sledding in a west facing bowl on the divide. Found more soft snow available for transport than we expected and the wind was loading constantly while we were out there. So much so that we saw a couple of small natural wind slab avalanches come down while we were there. So we stuck to mellow trees well away from any overhead hazard and had good sledding!</p>
southrockies,
Thursday 2nd February, 2023 3:50PM
Shallow in Alexander
<p>We spent the day in the Alexander area and found a melt-freeze crust up to about 1800 m, above this elevation there was 10 cm of new snow over a preserved stellar layer that we tested with a burp test.
The snowpack overall is gaining strength, even in the shallow location that we dug in today. The faceted snowpack is healing with these continued mild temperatures. There were no test results and we saw no recent avalanche activity.</p>
southrockies,
Tuesday 17th January, 2023 3:50PM
Cloudy snowy day
<p>Went for a short walk up a treeline ridge to check on the snow. Dug on both sides (east and west) there was 140 cm of snow on the ground with a weak layer of concern down 90 cm. It was failing in our snow pack tests. Extended column test hard and propagating across the whole column. This was a bit more scary than we were expecting... so we toned it down a bit and skied some nice lower angle trees. </p>
southrockies,
Tuesday 3rd January, 2023 5:10PM
Dang ! Frosty !
<p>Glorious day in the sunshine today north of Sparwood (ok, ok, maybe a little chilly at -29 ! ).
With the sunshine and great visibility, we had the chance to see up into the Alpine for the first time in days …… we saw no new avalanches, but did note the wind blowing snow high up on the ridges this morning, as well as previous wind-affected snow in the lee of ridges (see da photo).
Snowpack at lower elevations (1,500m) was approx 60cm, super dry and unconsolidated.</p>
southrockies,
Wednesday 21st December, 2022 1:40PM
Elk Valley Touchy Layer
<p>Pit at 2150 m sheltered W slope in trees. Isolated a few compression test columns. All 3 failed while isolating the back side of column. Layer 60 cm down. Lots of whumpfing but no avalanches observed. No naturals observed from alpine. Suspect the SH is only in sheltered areas.</p>
tyrel.musil,
Monday 12th December, 2022 11:50AM
Crown Mountain
<p>We were in the Crown Mountain area today where we found a snow depth of 145cm. We found the November 21 Surface Hoar layer alive and well in this area. It is definitely a layer that we will watch as we continue to get test results on it. We have been testing locations where we expect to find surface hoar (sheltered treeline terrain) and with poor visibility and no direct alpine obs, we still suspect that this layer may also be in sheltered locations in the Alpine also. We are keeping our trip plans conservative while this layer is a player.</p>
southrockies,
Thursday 8th December, 2022 4:40PM
Crown Mountain
<p>We were in the Crown Mountain area today where we found a snow depth of 145cm. We found the November 21 Surface Hoar layer alive and well in this area. It is definitely a layer that we will watch as we continue to get test results on it. We have been testing locations where we expect to find surface hoar (sheltered treeline terrain) and with poor visibility and no direct alpine obs, we still suspect that this layer may also be in sheltered locations in the Alpine also. We are keeping our trip plans conservative while this layer is a player.</p>
southrockies,
Thursday 8th December, 2022 4:30PM