[MCR] Argentine Glacier Ski Camp, April 18-25, 2009

We spent the last week camped near the Argentine Glacier with the ACC enjoying some great skiing and touring!  After a excellent powder start to the week things warmed up and made for some poor turns but good tours on Monday and Tuesday......and then it snowed 30cm with no wind effect and we spent the last few days enjoying cold boot top powder off the peaks!  (Morning temperatures down to -14'C)

 

Overall the avalanche hazard in the alpine was low with a few solar triggered slides on steep south aspects being the only thing we saw for the week.  North aspects seemed very well settled and the storm snow stuck on well.  South aspects were a little more suspect especially in shallow areas and more dependent on temperature changes so we avoided exposure to them during the hot parts of the days.  Below treeline the snowpack is becoming isothermal fairly quickly on all aspects, but still provided good travel in the mornings.

 

Of note were the amount of visible sags and open crevasses on the Argentine and Pyrite Glaciers.  With an average snowpack of 220-280cm which did not feel as strong as most spring snowpacks, we were quite careful in our approach to more heavily crevassed areas, roping up more than one might normally in spring and skiing lines we had looked at carefully.

 

-4'C and snowing when we left this morning....excellent spring skiing conditions! 

 

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.conradjanzenguiding.com

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