Here is some information on conditions I observed while
working at a Cat skiing operation located above the Perry river (@20 km. north
of the Trans Canada on the western side of the range) in the Monashee mountains.
Snowpack varies between 80-100cms. below 1800m. and 130-180
above that elevation – significantly less than Rogers Pass which is unusual for this area.
That said the recent storm snow from the weekend of Dec.6 & 7th (@80cms.)
as well as the further 20cms. that fell on Dec.12th has settled out quite
a bit and helps to keep you off the low season hazards. Windslabs now exist in
exposed treeline and all alpine terrain after the wind event that occurred on
the night of Dec.12th. The other main issues are the Dec.1 crust down
60-80cms., which is not producing any significant results in snowpack tests,
and the Nov.21 crust/facet combo down 80-100cms., which though it is still not
producing much in test results, lingers as the main issue in the back of my
mind.
Avalanches: We had no skier triggered activity over the
period though the snowcat did trigger several intentional avalanches (to size
3) by pushing large cornices/piles of snow over the ridge onto a steep west
facing piece of alpine terrain that, based on the depth of the fractures, appeared
to run on the deeper crust (though we didn’t have an opportunity to
investigate the failure plain). We also did some explosive control that
produced a couple of size 2.5 avalanches out of wind affected alpine features.
So for now the skiing is good at and below treeline where
the wind didn’t get at things but watch out for the shallow snowpack
hazards and give caution to larger features at treeline especially if they have
seen any wind affect.
Best of the season to all,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide