The ACMG Full Ski Exam just wrapped up with three excellent days in the Bugaboos. Here is a brief summary of what we observed. Perhaps it will be useful information for the Bugs - Rogers Pass crowd.
We flew in to Applebee on April 12 and flew out on April 15. When we arrived, the area had just received 40 - 60 cms of snow in the alpine that was bonding well. During our stay, another 30 cms came in with moderate to strong west winds. We saw surprisingly little avalanche activity with the exception of a few small size 1 skier accidentals that failed within the upper storm snow. We also observed one size 2 natural below the east face of Bugaboo Spire.
Our main avalanche concerns were: 1) variable soft slabs in alpine, lee features, 2) storm snow overlying buried suncrusts, 3) large cornices.
Temps remained cool and the freezing level did not rise above 2000 meters. Probing on the glacier consistently revealed over 350 cms. Travel conditions were generally excellent with 10 - 30 cms ski pen.
We skied fairly aggressively in the alpine, descending the Northpost Couloir on two consecutive days and descending the Bugaboo - Snowpatch Col on all three days. There were also two Bugs - Rogers Pass ski groups that started the traverse while we were in the area. They both skinned up the Bugaboo - Snowpatch Col and skied down through Bill's Pass.
The Bugaboos are still in Winter's wintry grip.
Have fun!
Andrew
Marc Piche - examiner
Greg Golovach - examiner
Olivia Sofer
James Madden
Josh Lavigne
Ross Berg
Andrew Wexler
Andrew Wexler
ACMG Alpine Guide
ACMG Alpine Guide