The last week was one of the coldest and snowiest I have observed in the
Howsons, but the skiing was excellent, with no less than 1200 m skied
every day. On Friday, the winds were moderate to strong from the NW with
steady snowfall. The temperatures dropped to -21C. The wind reversed
direction Friday night, but the snowfall and low temperatures persisted
until noon on Sunday. There were 40 cm of snow on the storm board by the
end of the week. It snowed much more, but much of that had been blown away.
A test profile at 1650 m in a wind exposed area, W aspect, showed about
50 cm of storm snow over last week. There were several sudden planar
moderate to hard shears on decomposing and fragmented grains in the
storm snow. There is a crust/ facet layer 100 cm down that is producing
hard sudden planar shears. There was some whumpfing in glades below
treeline. Ski cutting produced no results.
Our avalanche observations were mostly acoustic as the visibility was
poor throughout the week. Several size 2 and 3 came off the Hut Cliffs
and Polemic Glacier through the week.
Today, as we saw the sun for the first time all week, we observed one
size 3 natural slab in a south aspect on Hut Peak and several natural
size 2 slabs, some triggered by cornice falls, on the flight out in the
Telkwa Range.
--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.bearmountaineering.ca
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
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continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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