Spent the last 3 days in the Aster Lake region of Kananaskis with Arian S. and Nate S.
Wednesday began with an intense snow storm that abated in the late morning. We found good skiing on a west aspect at tree line where up to 20cm of snow covered the previous sun crust. The bond at this interface was generally good, but this old sun crust did make for occasionally challenging trail breaking, especially on SE and S aspects below tree line. Overall, travel conditions were easy with ski penetration of 10 to 20cm. It seems the warming event earlier this month has consolidated the snowpack and there is now a strong midpack allowing for more comfortable travel conditions. A soft wind slab had formed in alpine areas, but at this stage it does not seem reactive to skiing in moderate angled terrain.
Thursday dawned clear and cold (-23 celcius) and we skied up to Warrior Col and hiked to the summit of Warrior Mountain via the south ridge. The snowpack at tree line and in the alpine measured from 180cm to over 250cm in depth. There is a variably distributed soft wind slab in alpine areas, but again it does not seem reactive in moderate terrain. We also noted that the basal layers do not seem as weak in this region as they are in other areas of the Rockies (perhaps due to greater snow depth). There is still concern in shallow snow pack locations especially in lee areas and/or where a wind slab exists.
From a distance the north face of Mt. Joffre appears fairly well covered, however we were never close enough to evaluate the presence (or absence) of a wind slab. The snow texture has the look of wind effect and there is certainly concern given the steep, smooth, icy nature that this face typically shows. Today's strong westerly winds could have changed everything by now (see below) .
Today was an overcast day with light snow falling. Of special note was the moderate to strong westerly winds. Every ridge-top showed intense transport of snow and many of the previous days tracks were blown in. The avalanche hazard in the alpine and open areas at tree line is likely increasing.
Play safe out there.
Jeremy Mackenzie
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
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