Hi All,
We went for a short tour in the backcountry of Whitewater ski resort today and found the ski quality to be surprisingly good. Snow depths ranged from 70cm at the parking lot to 120cm at 2100m. Trail breaking was reasonable with ~15cm new overnight and 25cm ski penetration.
A denser base proved key for providing good support to the top 30cm of low density snow that made for great turns with reasonable coverage. The odd buried hazard still lurks near the surface at treeline and in wind affected areas the skiing looked boney. We saw snow depths vary from 80-200cm over short distances at 2200m in Ymir Bowl indicating strong wind distribution of snow before the last storm. The new storm snow showed only mild wind affect in exposed areas.
We found the laminated Oct. crust (5cm thick) about 70cm below the surface at 2100m but this was only producing hard compression test results. We had moderate results down 35cm at a density change which is something to watch out for where windslabs exist.
Skier sluffing is a concern on steeper terrain.
Things are generally looking very good at these elevations for this time of year but that may change quickly if the winds pick up with all the new snow. Lower elevations still need more cover but it's coming.
Play Safe,
Shaun King
ACMG Asst. Ski Guide
CAA Professional