I went for a hike/ski tour up the Asulkan valley on Nov.1
and here are some observations I made that day.
Valley bottom had progressively 10-30cm. of snow cover –
the lower 2/3rds was a strong melt freeze crust and the upper 1/3rd was
fluffy powder snow.
The crust pretty much carried to around 2000m. (6600ft.)
above which it quickly disappeared – average snowdepth at this elevation
was @60cm. – the upper 25cm was again fluffy powder snow. Once I climbed
above treeline the snowpack depth was highly variable due to the high winds
that accompanied the earlier snowfall – I didn’t travel any higher
than the elevation of the Asulkan hut (@2200m – 7200 ft.).
I did note a number of size 2 avalanches that had released
to the glacier ice on some steep rolls on the Sapphire Col Glacier. I could
also trigger sluffs easily by pushing the soft snow with my skis on top of the
crust – meaning that it is now well bonded to the crust for sure.
As Larry mentioned in his earlier summary the skiing was
nothing short of early season conditions with numerous hazards related to
shallow snowpack conditions.
That was then – and this is NOW.
I am not sure what Rogers Pass
has received as of this time but there is approximately 30cm. of heavy snow in
the Revelstoke townsite that has fallen overnight – so if you are
thinking of going skiing this weekend (that would be the guy on your shoulder
with the devils horns speaking to you) – think again – the precipitation
is expected to continue throughout the weekend and into Monday with climbing
freezing levels – given what I saw the other day I am sure that anything
that is worth skiing would be quite unstable with this additional heavy
snowload – so listen to that other little guy on your shoulder (the one
with the halo) and give the weekend a miss.
Best of the coming ski season to you,
Cheers,
Scott Davis
Mountain Guide