[MCR] Rogers Pass, March 1-8th, 2008

Just back from a fantastic week of skiing in the Pass based in the Asulkan Hut and Glacier Park Lodge!

 

Tours:  Skied in the Asulkan Trees, Sapphire Col, the Dome, Young's Peak, Lookout Peak, and Loop Brook/Lilly Glacier.

 

Weather:

35cm of new snow early in the week with light winds and cool temperatures, then clear for the past 4 days and warmer temperatures.

 

Snowpack:

Main concerns in the areas we skied were daytime heating on solar aspects, and the late Feb surface hoar layer down 60-80cm.  In the areas we skied this Feb layer seemed intermittent and generally produced hard, non-planar results which was great, however the potential does remain to get surprised by it.

 

Good coverage on all the glaciers with over 350cm of snow where we traveled.  Some wind effect up high beginning Thurs/Friday. Sun crust on solar aspects. Moist snow below 1500m on all aspects.

 

Avalanche Activity:

Some small slabs in the storm early in the week, then lots of sluffing from solar heating later in the week on southerly aspects.  We had one small, steep, roll fail on the Feb surface hoar at treeline early in the week as we stopped above it, but we did not observe any other activity on this layer.

 

It seems that in these drainages the Feb surface hoar was less reactive than areas not far away, but we did a lot of snow investigation to confirm this and the potential for surprises should not be eliminated from the picture.

 

Great skiing!!

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
IFMGA Mountain Guide
403.678.8336(cell)// 403.760.0887(home)

A person should have wings to carry
 them where their dreams go, but sometimes a pair of skis makes a good substitute. -Hans Gmoser-

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