[MCR] FLute Whisler Backcountry

Was skiing in the Flute ridge area today.  Had to ski down Symphony chair  to access the backcountry because of WB’s AC program as in full swing. Whistler looked a bit like a war zone with slides in some unusual start zones, as well as the normal places. Many of the recent slides have gone down to the facets and Dec 6 crust.

 

Skiing up Lesser Flute was work sometimes, occasionally the ski pen was near waist deep, in the trees. Foot Pen at 1700m was 1m. No whumps, but others are reporting lot of settlements. Creeks at this elevation are filled in reasonably. There is about 1.2m of snow now at 1700m and in the alpine there is quite a bit of windslabbing. I went to tree line and skied down in good quality snow. But took it really easy and stayed off bigger avalanche terrain angled slopes. Things feel ripe to slide and there is lots of evidence of past activity. I did not see any naturals today – they must be waiting for a trigger.... There is a report that Cowboy ridge had a very substantial slab avalanche that broke across the slope for many hundreds of meters and was up to 1m deep.

 

In conclusion skiing is quite good, you really have to work for your turns, but if you venture into avalanche terrain you might just be playing a very serious game of roulette.

 

Time for a drink, Happy new year,

Dave Sarkany

Ski Guide

 

 

 

[MCR] Diamond Head/ Paul Ridge, South Coast

Greetings West Coasters,

 

Considering the limitations of terrain that I would want to be on right now, we opted to give bigger areas a miss today and do a short day tour up at Diamond Head/Paul Ridge Area, thinking there could me more options for skiing low angle terrain.

 

Just below the high point of Paul Ridge, the total snowpack depth was around 160 cm . We decided to have a look in the snow. About the sketchiest I have ever seen it up there. At the site we dug our profile, we found 110 cm of mostly unconsolidated snow sitting on 15 cm of ballbearing facets above the hard crust that was buried in early Dec. We also found a (almost hidden) 3-5mm surface hoar layer down 75cm below the snow surface. The surface hoar layer sheared easily with a ‘pop’, and the facet layer was so weak it was almost falling out of the pit.

 

Even though the trail breaking was not difficult (skis only penetrated 25 cm), stepping out of the skis had us sinking almost up to our waists.

 

Heavy ‘Whumfs’ reverberating in the snowpack near ridgetop had me really thinking about the terrain I wanted to be on.  Sure enough, we were able to trigger a LARGE size 2 avalanche (from jumping on safe terrain above the slope, after I had someone watch  from the side to make sure there was no skiers/boarders below). It was at the top of the widest bowl off the north side of Round Mountain (NE Side) for those that know the terrain. The avalanche was 60-85 cm deep, 60 m wide, running 150m down almost to the flats. Even though the failure plane was on the surface hoar, I think it would have stepped down to the facets and crust if the terrain had been bigger (wider and longer bowl), or the slab properties a bit stiffer.

 

There was plenty of blower pow to be had up there, but have to admit there are many lines up there I wouldn’t touch today.

Many groups heading into the Elfin Lakes hut for New Years. Good time to use the designated ‘winter route’ with the orange stakes.

 

Keep in mind this weak snowpack is very unusual for the Coast, and is not likely to heal quickly. Stick to low angle terrain, well away from avalanche slopes above. If you are not really sure what this means, or have difficulty holding back when you see those big powder lines, it might be best to enjoy the in-bounds slopes for a while.

 

Brian Gould

Mountain Guide

 

 

[MCR] Musical bumps

Went for a tour on the N side of Flute yesterday. A largely overcast day
with moderate SW winds and a few "exquisite" sunny breaks in the
afternoon. The skiing in the upper alpine was quite wind affected and not
particularly great. As you approach tree line the surface conditions
improved along with the skiing.

Safe to say that we skied conservative lines and tip-toed our way around.
As reported by many the upper snowpack is quite interesting if not a
little unusual for the Coastal region. 15cm of low density (F) new snow
over a 15cm (4F) slab over 10cm of cold low density (F-) facets all
resting on the December 6th crust. Though this "sandwich" made for
descent skiing it also made for very challenging uptracks as skies
continually collapse through to the December crust.

We experienced regular whumping especially in thin rocky areas and any
area peppered with small trees. Though there have been numerous reports
of Skier accidental and remotely triggered avalanches we were unable to
ski cut any features and saw little natural avalanche activity.
Whistler/Blackcomb did produce numerous size 1-2 avalanches from ski
cutting on specific terrain features and from explosive control work

With forecasted precipitation and wind for the remainder of the week I
would expect the load and slab properties in the upper snowpack to
dramatically increase along with the hazard level. It is very likely that
the facet layer overlaying the December crust may be with us for a very
long time.

Keith Reid
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Whistler BC
keith@reid.bc.ca
_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Glacier Gulch ice

The ice in Glacier Gulch on Hudson Bay Mountain near Smithers is now
well formed and fat throughout. I climbed the CPC (far right) falls and
the Middle Falls during a course. I cut and broke a trail to the Far
Right which is a pleasant 120 m grade III. The Middle Falls are quite
steep this year. The ice is still hard and brittle from the deep freeze.
We observed several size 2 natural avalanches over and beside the Right
Falls within one hour of wind starting to transport snow aloft. There
was no recent activity on the Left Falls, but I saw a significant
fracture line about 800 m above it. Both those lines and also the Left
of Left are prone to natural avalanches right now and I recommend to
leave them alone until things stabilize thoroughly.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Rogers Pass

Skiing in the Pass the past two days with an epic deep powder day today. Trailbreaking off the old tracks was up to your hip on your uphill leg. The skiing was too deep for turns on the lower angled slopes. Below 1500 m things are still very bony though and it takes a bit of time to work your way through these areas.

40-60 cm of snow now overlies the old surfaces of facets and wind crusts. Where we were skiing in Connaught Creek at treeline this storm snow was not wind affected and we did not see any cracking or hear any whumpfing. There was wind at higher elevations though and we limited our exposure to alpine slopes above us.

There was avalanche debris out of Frequent Flyer that hit the uptrack, looked like within the past 24 hours, probable loose snow, size 1.5. There was also an unconfirmed report of a larger avalanche out of Cheops 1 that dusted the uptrack later in the day.

Good skiing but time to tread carefully, if any wind or warm temps gets at this new snow there will be a widespread slab instability.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Kootenay Pass

Touring at Cornice Ridge on Boxing Day the snowpack was delightfully more cooperative than further north near Nelson.  The late Nov. rain crust was absent right from the car at 1774m.  Snow depths were in the 90 - 115cm range below treeline with hard windslabs on the wind exposed Cornice Ridge.  The east aspect off the summit was as thin as 50cm where recent reverse winds had reduced the coverage.

The snowpack was mostly supportive making for some great turns with a ~30cm ski pen although the facetted base offered the occassional surprise sinkhole where unseen burried objects lay below.  Tree wells were particularly hungry.

No avalanche activity was noted other than surface sluffs in the new snow although visibility was limited.

Whitewater reported 17cm overnight with both chairs open and it continues to fall in Nelson as I write.

Happy turns,
Shaun King
Alpine Guide / Asst. Ski Guide

[MCR] Whistler, Duffy and Bridge River Ice

Drove North Yesterday and saw the following:

Lots of snow.

Entropy looked in (was climbed a week ago)
Psycho Pillar was thin, unprotectable, but looked like a great mixed climb on TR
The climb on the cliffs across from Gott creek was in and looked fat
Rambles were fat, Shreddie non existant
Carlsberg looked climbable and some steps on it made it easier looking than normal in the sense of climbing....protecting it looked epic if possible
Syncronicity looks really fat at the top but thin where you get on it at the top of the gully
there is a great looking Grade 3 gully on the south facing wall near at the fish hatchery lillooet

The Bridge River Canyon is the driest I have seen it in several years.
Capricon looked fat
couldn't see silk degrees
Gift and Theft aren't even starting to form
Shriek of the Sheep curtain doesn't touch down but the lower pitches are in
Nightn Gail was just a bunch of ribbons.

watch for avalanche hazard and snow drifts on the road on the Goldbridge Road

Conny Amelunxen
MG ACMG/IFMGA

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