[MCR] Hudson Bay Mountain 6 December 06

Subject: [MCR] Hudson Bay Mountain 6 December 06
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:01:17 -0800
Saint Nicholas' Day brought another 30 cm of wet snow in the valley bottom, southerly winds, and rain at higher elevations. We flew the east flank of Hudson Bay Mountain at ten this morning and were surprised to find less snow than expected, no slabs and wet surface sluffs only in steep terrain. In the main start zone at 1800 m, some of the bed surface from the 19 November cycle was still visible and the cornices were small. There was a lot of wind effect from that elevation on, with the upper mountain appearing stripped. We then skied up to our observation site at 1500 m and found about 15 cm of new snow, the top 6 cm of which were wet and very high density. It was 1.5 degrees above freezing, raining lightly, and there was a strong southerly wind. The skiing was vile.

Even in steep terrain, ski cutting only led to surface sluffing. The visibility was not very good, and we saw and heard no other slides.
--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
Mountain Guide IFMGA
Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222     Smithers, B.C.     Canada V0J 2N0
tel. 250-847-3351    fax 250-847-2854
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