[MCR] Rogers Pass, Dec 13/14

Skied in Balu drainage on Saturday and Bostock on Sunday. -25 air temperature with ridge top winds blowing north at 50 km/h.  Constant work to stay warm.

The snow is punched in the alpine and on most exposed places at treeline.  In good light you can see giant waves of windblown snow (sastrugi) on the surface from kilometers away.  The north wind has reverse loaded things and pushed drifts into strange places.

Profile at treeline in Balu (2100m) showed 80 cm of recent storm snow on top of the Dec 1 crust which is decomposing here and looked weak.  No test results on that crust but I wouldn't trust it.  Profile in Bostock at 2100m showed 100 cm of storm snow on the Dec 1 crust which is thinner and not as facetted.  Still a feature to watch but not as bad here (total snowdepth 200cm).  Numerous shears in the storm snow as well as a surface windslab on all exposed areas.  However, my sense was that the -25 has mostly taken the punch out of the snowpack and I did not observe any avalanche activity in two days.  Avoided steep starting zones where the wind had been (and the skiing was terrible!)

Good skiing in sheltered glades at treeline on S and W aspects.

Grant Statham
Mountain Guide


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