Well from all those great MCR’s out there it is obvious that people are now getting out and taking advantage of the great early season conditions.
A late start today with Dog in tow limited our options, so we decided to check out NRC Gully.
Weather was mostly sunny and cool and it looked like around another 5-10cms over the old up track – we had a cool NE wind in the light to moderate range with wind transport visible on the higher peaks.
I will keep this short – still pretty aldery down low (means wear your goggles and keep your tips in sight!) with some tracks from earlier parties – we worked our way up into NRC bowl and ascend quite high and managed to get a decent run out of it – snow depths up there were around 120-140cms. with some shallow areas and large boulders to avoid.
There was an old avalanche deposit from the last storm cycle that ran quite a ways down the bowl (see attached photo) – I say this so that people keep in mind that even when the valleys are thin avalanches can definitely run to valley bottom at this point in the season with the right conditions (see below)
So for now the skiing is still great and there are lots of people out there (I counted 20 cars in the Asulkan Parking area) – and the rest of the weekend looks great too if not quite so bluebird as today (remember Timing is everything).
HOWEVER things are going to change on MONDAY and TUESDAY as there looks to be a significant WARMUP on the way, so please if you are planning on going out after the weekend take all these recent postings with a grain of salt and truly evaluate what is going on – remember that Connaught Ck. is a shooting gallery of large paths that deserves respect (especially the “Frequent Flyer path which the summer trail crossed mid runout – it is just after the bridge where you gain the North side of Connaught Ck. – this baby runs fast and far early in the season!).
Have fun while it last and pray for low Freezing levels!
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide