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We were skiing in Rogers Pass the last 3 days. Lots of wind effect in the upper edge of treeline and alpine elevations and below treeline still has poor coverage over the ground roughness so there is a bit of a narrow band where there is good skiing. If your powderhound nose is keen enough you can sniff out some good turns though. What you are looking for are treeline glades that are not too open and that are not north facing (to avoid the wind effect), and below treeline glades that are rather open (in the forest the trees have filtered too much snow and there isn't enough coverage, you will hit lots of wood and the occasional rock). However, below treeline you have to avoid glades that have alder in them, you will need a machete to get through the alders.
Avalanche hazard: Lots of wind crust and some areas of windslab, and it is difficult to distinguish between the two. Avoid the bad skiing and you will avoid the windslab hazard. In non wind effected areas we didn't dig as it was too cold to stop moving but we saw no evidence of avalanche activity, no cracking or whumpfing, and had no results with ski cutting on small steep slopes. We kept our exposure to complex terrain to a minimum though because we didn't have a lot of information. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide |
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