Headed to Highwood Pass today for a crisp afternoon of skiing before the
Hwy #40 gate closes on Dec. 1. We were one of 6 cars parked in the area.
-22C at 11am in the parking lot with broken skies and a moderate wind from
the south that made us sprint into the trees for some reprieve.
I was pleasantly surprised to find an 80-85cm snowpack at 7500 ft. in the
trees. The Nov. crust sat about 10cm off the ground, 2cm thick with
facets and/or depth hoar beneath almost everywhere I looked for it.
About 15cm of fist density snow on 55cm 4 finger - 1 finger density snow
that sat on the crust. Below treeline the snow was not consolidated
enough to move on steeper features, but that changed in a hurry when we
reached treeline. Where the snow had any exposure to wind it was forming
a soft slab that produced moderate, resistant planer hand shears. The HS
also decreased to 40-50cm and some thinner spots with burried rocks - one
such spot producing a sizable settlement with cracks shooting for several
meters. I believe the wind had removed some of the HS beneath the most
recent storm snow as the surface was not visably affected until above
treeline where wind etching was evident. The alpine looked uninviting and
even a little scary with loaded pockets here and there, although I saw no
recent activity anywhere.
The best skiing was definately in the trees where we had great boot top
powder. Just above treeline and in more open areas we were getting the odd
"free stone grind".
At our high point of ~7700 ft. light wind transport had blown ~5cm of snow
in to our tracks in ~30 min.
On the drive home Whiteman's Falls looked quite thick, Kidd Falls looked
in typical condition and Amadeus was in although perhaps a bit stiffer
than the grade right now.
Cheers,
Shaun King
Asst. Ski & Alpine Guide
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