So touring at the pass today proved to give obvious good skiing
conditions on grizzly shoulder and there were only a handful of skiers
out touring. We were surprised to not have super deep trail breaking
conditions though...maybe 35 cms or so and fast skiing. Some
widespread wind effect was apparent in the alpine but not at treeline
and below.
We did not see any natural activity today but plenty of past activity
from the recent storm. Temps were cooler hovering around -5 to
-8 at treeline. The sun did feel like it could have an impact on
steeper south facing slopes but thankfully did not. There was a thin
soft skiable crust to about 1450 metres and the tree bombs were set up
and difficult to ski in tighter trees at around that elevation. Lots
of old bed surfaces were refilled in as well and had not yet slid.
Stability test at 2200 metres(south asp. 30 incline) produced moderate
resistant planar results in the storm snow( down 25cm; F+ soft slab)
and an easy sudden collapse at the storm snow interface(down
approximate 1 metre). Storm snow settling to 1F resistance at lower
half. Ski tests cutting steep rolls did not get results.
Despite no new natural activity observed where we were skiing there
was a report of a size 4.5 natural avalanche today west of Rogers pass
that ran across the highway on a slide path that didn't before reach
the road taking out 100 year old trees leaving behind a few metres of
debris.
ski safe,
Greg Franson
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.
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