Avalanche Forecast
Kananaskis Country, Alberta Parks
New windslabs have/are developed in alpine terrain that skiers should pay close attention too. Choose supported features and rein yourself in a little. Watch for the affects of solar radiation on solar aspects later in the day.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain near ridge crests.
- Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Lots of variability on this interface down 50cm. This is a persistent slab that is overlying a thick suncrust that was buried on solar aspects on March 15th.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Minimize exposure to sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
- Carefully evaluate terrain features by digging and testing on adjacent, safe slopes.
Avalanche Problem 3: Cornices
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Cornices are large and looming and become weak with daytime heating. They may collapse and trigger an avalanche on the underlying slopes.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Cornices become weak with daytime heating, so travel early on exposed slopes.
Avalanche Summary
One size two wet slab was observed on the EEOR later in the day on Friday but otherwise, only isolated pinwheeling on solar aspects.
Snowpack Summary
SW winds increased in alpine overnight and into the morning building windslabs up to 20cm thick in lee features. Recent snow is overlying a supportive MFC that is 4-6cm thick up to 2200m. All aspects were moist up to 2000m by midday and moist snow suspected up to the peaks on solar. Hard sudden planar results on the March 15th crust down 50cm at 2200m on a SE aspect at treeline. Start early when travel on the crusts is good and fast
Weather Forecast
Winds out of the SW are forecast to increase overnight further loading and building on the current windslabs. Conditions will be a mix of sun and cloud with daytime highs are -7C in the alpine. Pay attention to the sun, solar radiation is strong at this time of year and solar aspects will quikly become less stable as temperatures warm up. These decreases will be most apparent in thin, steep, rocky solar terrain.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Kananaskis Country, Alberta Parks URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/kananaskis.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
Windslabs up to 20cm thick in lee and crossloaded features. These slabs will build overnight on Friday and get a little bit larger and stiffer. Use Caution.