Hi,
I was skiing out of the Manning Park ski area for the last 4 days. At Allison Pass there is about 40cm of snow, but at Tree Line there is an average of 1.5 meters. The area has had little wind effect and the warm inversion temperatures from a week ago did not seem to effect this place. The trees still hold plenty of snow. The day time temps where around -15.
The skiing was quite good- to almost excellent- from ridge top to valley bottom on nice sugary facets.
Ski Penetration is 15-20 cm. Foot Pen is 40cm.
The November 26 crust 5-10 cm thick and is buried under 30-40 cm of faceting snow. The November 28 crust is so decomposed it does not effect sking.
I was getting moderate shears under and above the Nov 26th crust on 1-2mm facets. The crust is nicely glazed – very smooth on top. So, I bet the next time we get snow on top of this things are going to move. The snowpack is very solid from just under the crust to ground.
Stability is Good and Hazard is Low here- at Tree Line.
Yesterday afternoon, as I drove from Manning to Hope, I saw lots of reasonably thick ice forming everywhere.
Dave Sarkany
SG