Skied to the observation site on the E side of Hudson Bay Mountain today. At
1100 hrs at the portal (1100 m), it was overcast, snowing lightly and 0
degrees. At 1500 m, it was -4 degrees and snowing. The visibility was
marginal, but we could see several size 1.5 soft slabs out of steep NE facing
and windloaded gullies. No large avalanches had run in this large and steep
path. A snow profile confirmed that the snowpack is now at about 130 cm for
this elevation. There are several instabilities in the 40-60 cm of recent
storm snow. More worrisome is a deep instability, almost 100 cm down, where we
found consistent easy to moderate shears, sudden planar, on facets on top of a
decaying crust. We did not ski down the path.
--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Mountain Guide
Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222 Smithers B.C. Canada V0J 2N0
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.bearmountaineering.ca
tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854
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