I went for a quick run up Connaught Ck. on Wednesday Nov.5
(I know – desperate!).
As of Wednesday there was 10-30cm. total snowpack in the
valley bottoms – which was basically one big crust with a couple of cms.
of now snow over it.
At Balu pass there was 60-80cms. total snowpack, with 10cms.
of low density new snow over a thick (30-40cm.) hard crust from last weekend’s
warm up. Looks to me as though the crust goes quite high and things in the
alpine are filled in enough that they look pretty smooth (except for really
bouldery areas).
While the crust is covering up some of the early season
nasties, it will likely become a real issue in the alpine and smoother treeline
terrain, once there is sufficient snow loading it.
Wednesday night cleared off nicely but before noon on Thursday
the next system began to obscure the peaks – snowline dropped
considerably and there was more snow than the system on Tuesday (maybe 20-30cms.).
My suggestion is to give things a bit more time (cause now
the rocks sticking above the crust are barely hidden) and then approach any
open alpine terrain with caution until you get a better handle on what this
crust interface is going to do – in other words don’t go jump on
Video peak for your first run of the season.
Have a safe and fluffy winter,
Scott Davis
Mountain Guide