[MCR] Monashee Mountains - Gorge Road - Dec.22-23/06

I spent Dec.22-23 skiing the Gorge road area in the Monashees west of Revelstoke.

 

On Dec.22 there was @15cm of new snow that had fallen overnight and covered a very thin (2mm.) freezing rain crust that must have formed at the beginning of the storm. The crust itself was not even noticeable when skiing (other than the noisy pole plants). There had been a little wind transport right at the ridgecrest that produced thin windslabs over the crust, but once down the slope a few turns it disappeared leaving low density skiing and 30cm. ski penetration. Snowpack depth at 6500ft. was 2-2.5 meters the Nov. raincrust has 1.8-2.0 meters over it in this location – there were no significant shears other than the thin raincrust.

 

Reports from the Mt. Machperson area just above Revelstoke said that there is no raincrust there – so the location is variable and appears to be limited to the western section of the range.

 

On Dec. 23 there was a further 15-20 cm. of very low density snow – similar wind affect limited to the ridgecrest. The main concern was loose snow sluffs triggered by the skiers as they skied down.

 

Last night in Revelstoke we received another 15cm. of snow from Santa – so it was a truly White Christmas.

 

Best of the Season to you all,

 

Scott Davis

Mountain Guide