Selkirks Mountains Rogers
Pass Dome
Glacier Nov.27-07
Broke trail up the Asulkan Valley
through the 15-20 cm. of new snow that had fallen overnight. We met a couple
coming out that had spent the night in the Asulkan Cabin and they said that
there had been no wind overnight (given that the hut is one of those really
windy locations that was good news – however the tenants from the previous
night reported strong winds).
There is @ 30-45cm. of snow at higher elevations sitting on
the Nov.24th interface as a result of the last couple of systems. On
our travels up to the Dome I checked the interface out in several locations but
the new snow had not formed a sufficient slab to be reactive (YET). Little or
no wind affect was observed on our tour but this is not unusual for this
sheltered location – near the ridge I could feel a thin windslab down @
20cm. that I am guessing was from the previously mentioned wind event –
but it was isolated to the ridgecrest in that location.
Avalanche activity observed was limited to loose snow type
of sluffs out of steeper terrain and rock bands – we did see lots of tree
bombs release during the day – seems the hemlock trees had reached
critical load – so keep your heads up in the trees.
Trailbreaking was an honest 40cm. when you went off any
established tracks but not too industrial as the snow is light and the base
supportive. We had light snow showers throughout the day with cool temps (-5 C
in the parking lot) – looking like a nice weekend as a ridge is set to
start building into the interior on Thursday.
Play safe out there,
Scott Davis
Mountain Guide
