SNOWPACK DISTRIBUTION AND COVERAGE
The snowpack in this local area starts in earnest at 1100m with an
average of 2.0 meters of snow at treeline elevations. The wind
generated from the strong south/west flow for the past few weeks has
widely affected snowpack distribution in the alpine and in windward
treeline areas.
This means that shallow areas will exist in the alpine and exposed
treeline terrain that can harbour weak points in the snowpack and...
you will be more likely to hit rocks. Over the weekend a rise in air
temperatures and strong winds has organized last weeks new
unconsolidated snow into a soft slab and in some areas a hard slab at
ridgelines and in the alpine. The snowpack shows consistently
increasing hardness with depth. A test profile at 1950m, 175cm
snowpack depth, N aspect, 32 degrees, produced a sudden easy shear at
32cm below the surface. The late Oct/early Nov crust was found 75cm
from the ground and this layer did not produce any results in
snowpack strength tests. No other shears were found in the snowpack
at this site.
Cornices are becoming very well developed.
AVALANCHE ACTIVITY
There was a widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 2.0 on
northerly aspects starting on Saturday (09-11-28)afternoon. The
majority of the start zones were in steep skiable terrain below
ridges, fracture depth was around 30cm, with crown lines extending
throughout entire bowls. These loose avalanches ran almost to full
path and it suspected that the failure plane was a slightly firmer
layer (not crust). Travel on slopes greater than 30 degrees produced
cracking and fracturing of this layer (yesterday) with some
propagation and release on steep unsupported features.
SKI/SLED QUALITY
The best snow quality was found on direct E aspects at treeline and
below. Ski penetration varied from 10cm at treeline to 25cm below
treeline. There was a very thin drizzle crust on S and SW aspects but
strangely it did not exist on east aspects.
Dana Foster-Ludwig
SG
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These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.