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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

[MCR] Central Selkirks conditions april 13th, 2011

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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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HI everyone,
I have been working on the Ski Guide exam at Selkirk Lodge for the last 4 days and I wanted to pass on some of our concerns as I know that lots of people are planning some ski traverses this spring.

We have had 40-60cms of snow that fell on a widespread crust (buried Apr. 9th) that was initially accompanied with a signifcant wind event. This layer had been highly reactive especaily when compared to the great stability we have had during this spring. We observed numerous naturals yesterday as well as several skier remote (from as far away as 100meters) triggered avalanches, we didn't see any naturals today but there was another skier remote (again about 100meters) today. They were in flat terrain but a nearby steep slope S slope released to size 1.5, this was at 2600m elevation, another group also had asignificant whumpf while travelling on a Glacier where they had to negotiate a section that had a bit of a SE tilt to it.

So keep your heads up for overhead (and underski) slopes over 35degrees on East to West aspects - basically any thing that gets a bit of sun - we haven't had any action on true North at this point and there is some great skiing out there with some isolated wind affect from last night wind.

Have a safe Spring

Scott Davis
ACMG Mountain Guide