[MCR] MCGill Shoulder

Subject: [MCR] MCGill Shoulder
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:01:13 -0700
Went to McGill Shoulder in Rogers Pass today. We did a profile on a West aspect at about 2150m just below the ridgecrest. Total snow depth at our profile site was 170cm. There's about 20cm of low density snow on a thin melt-freeze crust which has a thin layer of sugary facets or feathery surface hoar (couldn't tell for sure). This is the March 6 layer being talked about in the GNP avalanche bulletin. About 40cm below the surface is another, thicker melt-freeze crust with a prominent layer of sugary faceted snow under it. This is the March 1 layer. in tests, both these layers "dropped", and indicatations are both these layers are skier-triggerable and will likely propagate (a slab avalanche is likely).

For those in the know: 20 down ECTP12 SC and 40 down ECTP16 SC.

The remaining 130cm of the snowpack consists entirely of sugary, faceted grains which gradually get weaker the deeper you go.

This profile looked more like something you'd see in the Rockies than in the Selkirks...

There are many (up and down) tracks in the slopes around and below our profile site and no sign of any avalanches. Go figure.

The profile essentially confirmed what we already knew. We followed the plan we had already made in the morning, that is: We stayed off the steep lines and skied down the ridge a ways before heading down to Bostock Creek on moderate to low angle slopes that were well supported.

Skiing was better on low angle slopes where we didn't feel the crusts as much.

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC

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