Kananaskis Country

Date Issued   Sunday, 19 February 2012 5:00 PM

Valid Until    Monday, 20 February 2012 5:00 PM

  Danger Ratings

		Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Alpine		2 Moderate	2 Moderate	2 Moderate
At Treeline		2 Moderate	2 Moderate	2 Moderate
Below Treeline		1 Low	1 Low	1 Low

Persistent Slabs

What Elevation Zone

Which Slopes

Chance of Avalanches

Expected Size

The Valentine's surface hoar and sun crust continue to be problems with extensive avalanche activity in the past week. The surface hoar is particularly touchy and is buried 30 to 70cm. Remote triggering, cracking and whumpfing are occurring.

Wind Slabs

What Elevation Zone

Which Slopes

Chance of Avalanches

Expected Size

Widespread wind slabs in the alpine on lee and cross loaded features. It is likely that a failure in these wind slabs will step down and trigger the buried surface hoar. A party triggered a slide on this layer Thursday which stepped down to ground.

Deep Persistent Slabs

What Elevation Zone

Which Slopes

Chance of Avalanches

Expected Size

Weak facets and depth hoar linger at the base of the snowpack. Thin steep areas are the most likely trigger points. Snowboarders triggered a size 3.0 slide on Thursday on this layer when the initial wind slab stepped down to ground.

Confidence:

Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain for the entire period

Travel Advisory

• Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain near ridge crests.
• Be cautious of sluffing in steep terrain.
• Be aware of thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilites.
• Consider doing the longer alpine ski tours while the ski penetration remains low.

Weather Forecast

Light to very light flurries to continue over the next 48 to 72 hours. Winds remain moderate to strong form the western quadrant.

Prepared by jeremy.mackenzie