Hope Everyone is having a good time these days while climbing or skiing.
Seemed like a good idea to turn the legs over out into the Park today and the skiing was really enjoyable. A few observations from that region:
* Cornices are beginning to fall out there and there will likely be further and more significant activity over the course of this forecasted warming cycle. There was a large, natural cornice fall in the McBride Range, likely within the last 24-hours, onto a large and open west-facing slope. The cornice debris was extensive and ran from the high alpine region all the way down to treeline!
* Rock faces/cliffs are attracting a lot of heat these days and helping to produce natural snow sluffing and loose-snow avalanches on adjacent slopes.
* I didn't see any slab avalanche activity out there today but certain areas are becoming very primed for a future event. I began thinking again about that weak early-December layer that haunted us all season and how all this heating is working diligently to stress that deeply-buried layer that lingers. Be very suspicious of those larger, steeper, and rocky slopes again, particularly the ones that are/have received lots of heating from the sun. Ensure you're not travelling below/near them at the peak of daytime heating.......
* As early-morning gives way to mid-morning, the snow surface is moistening with the warm temperatures and sun effect. Below this is an old crust that is moistening, as well. This crust does carry the weight of a skier during the morning and early-afternoon, but it began losing its strength after 2pm while tracksetting uphill. I felt two large 'whumphs' on some low-angled treeline terrain while ascending. Below this soft crust, currently, are plenty of wet grains of snow that don't offer much strength.
While I was traveling today, in these conditions, I thought about two things that may be food for thought: timing and terrain. 'Timing' got me thinking about the 'freeze-thaw' effect and avoiding snow that has thawed (no fun to ski and it's unstable). 'Terrain' choices varied according to how thoroughly the snow had frozen and how manageable that snow was. In essence, as the snow became more and more heated I chose gentler and gentler terrain with no exposure from above......
Wishing Everyone a great weekend..... oh! and if you do go into the hills you'll find that you're probably the only ones out there..... it's quiet. Enjoy the solitude......
Cheers,
Dale Marcoux
ACMG Member
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
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