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I was up in the Bella Coola area since March
9th. For the first 3 days a storm brought at first high freezing
levels and then about 80 cm of snow.
The storm ended cold so we had amazing skiing, but
the area had been somewhat torn apart by size 3+ avalanches that
had occurred mid storm due to snow accumulation. Some of
the slides had crown lines that ran for hundreds of meters and were up
to 2.5 meters deep. The bed surface was a Feb 7 ice crust that had
rounding facets below. After the main storm heavey loads (cornice
releases) kept triggering this same layer until Tuesday.
A total of 140cm of new snow had fallen by the
15th. On the 16th, 17th we had very warm conditions with the freezing level
probably going over 2000m. This caused another avalanche cycle. As I
was flying out yesterday more seasonable cooler air was moving back into the
area.
Dave Sarkany
Ski Guide
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