full force in the mountains, although we managed to find some decent
powder skiing on northern aspects.
A crust exists on all aspects below about 1900m except for the true
north. Southern aspects have been baking for a while and have thick,
laminated crusts that softened on Wednesday, our hottest day of the
trip. Snow from the last storm on the solar aspects was snowballing by
early afternoon Wednesday.
A good re-freeze overnight allowed us to venture to the south on
Thursday to find the crusts were well formed and bridging everything.
We even had good corn-like skiing there.
A system passing through Thursday night and Friday morning kept the
temperatures above freezing at 2000m. We skied down Friday morning to
the valley in heavy snowfall on almost breakable crust (thankful for fat
skis!). The system dumped about 10cm before ending by noon. What was
left of the snowpack below 1800m was isothermal (same temperature from
ground to surface) and wet.
Stability tests on northeast and southeast aspects at 2100m gave
generally moderate to hard results with fast planar shears on a number
of layers in the top 80cm of the snowpack. The crystals on the failure
planes were surface hoar on the shaded aspects, and crusts and probably
surface hoar on the solar aspects.
Although the snow seemed stable, the consequences of triggering one of
the deeper layers would be huge. We tiptoed around the mountains
sticking to simple terrain. We chose our routes carefully to avoid big
open slopes with overhead exposure, and solar aspects in the afternoon
heat. Northern aspects offered the best skiing, but we stayed off
slopes steeper than 30 degrees and went around convex rolls. Despite
our cautious approach, we managed to find a lot of fun skiing.
Play it safe out there.
Craig Hollinger,
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide.
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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.