[MCR] Rogers Pass Feb 24-Mar 1

Subject: [MCR] Rogers Pass Feb 24-Mar 1
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:10:31 -0700
Spent the last six days at the pass with Tom Wolfe and three clients. Enjoyed excellent skiing on uncrowded mountains.

WEATHER : Quite stable the whole time. Cool temps, skies broken or scattered with the odd piece of clag, no significant winds. Total Hn for the week about 15cm.

SNOWPACK : The surface is currently low density fluff on Northwest through East aspects, and breakable, no-fun suncrust on South and West to 2500m. Southeast slopes above treeline have a soft, skiable suncrust. Isolated areas in Alpine have a buried 15cm thick old windslab under the new snow, not reactive to skis. Height of snow is about 230 cm at treeline and on the glaciers we weren't hitting bottom with a 320 cm probe. Mid and lower pack gets progressively harder and is strong...

... except for "you know what": much evidence of previous cycle of Naturals and Skier accidentals on the Feb 4th surface hoar below 1700m, especially in the 1400m and below elevations. This layer was evident to us in pits 1750m and below on N and E. It would produce generally Hard sudden planar (fast and clean "like a cash register") results, down 50ish at the really low elevations and down about 90 at 1700m. Our latest pit, yesterday (March 1st), was on a lower fan of Cheops just downstream of "The Cone" moraine. We dug at 1500m, North, and the layer was about 1cm thick, composed of well preserved surface hoar 6 - 12mm, sandwiched between pencil snow down 80cm. Yikes.

SKIING: Excellent skiing, good stability up high. Boot top powder on the Lily, Dome, Youngs, Bonney, and Balu with cold smoke contrails. 8812 bowl (SE) was good yesterday (March 1st). Illecillewaet is wind affected on skier's left, but Lookout col N slopes and Perley Rock are good. Pretty easy trail breaking, ski pens 10 -25cm. We skied steep terrain with confidence to about 1900m, then more carefully below that, and avoided altogether the steep, protected low elevation stuff due to our concerns about the Feb. 4 surface hoar instability.

Cheers, Joel McBurney SG