I went for a quick run up Connaught Ck. on Wednesday Nov.5 (I know – desperate!).
As of Wednesday there was 10-30cm. total snowpack in the valley bottoms – which was basically one big crust with a couple of cms. of now snow over it.
At Balu pass there was 60-80cms. total snowpack, with 10cms. of low density new snow over a thick (30-40cm.) hard crust from last weekend’s warm up. Looks to me as though the crust goes quite high and things in the alpine are filled in enough that they look pretty smooth (except for really bouldery areas).
While the crust is covering up some of the early season nasties, it will likely become a real issue in the alpine and smoother treeline terrain, once there is sufficient snow loading it.
Wednesday night cleared off nicely but before noon on Thursday the next system began to obscure the peaks – snowline dropped considerably and there was more snow than the system on Tuesday (maybe 20-30cms.).
My suggestion is to give things a bit more time (cause now the rocks sticking above the crust are barely hidden) and then approach any open alpine terrain with caution until you get a better handle on what this crust interface is going to do – in other words don’t go jump on Video peak for your first run of the season.
Have a safe and fluffy winter,
Scott Davis
Mountain Guide