[MCR] Bella Coola Area

Subject: [MCR] Bella Coola Area
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:40:40 -0700
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