I was out for an adventure stroll yesterday up towards the Balu
Headwall in
Rogers Pass. We were able to travel on skis from the hotel but still
coverage is minimal
over the rocks.
Temps started off slightly below freezing but that all changed around
1130 @
1800m when they jumped up to +1 and the snow turned to rain. Travel
on the
trail (compacted old tracks) was OK but any venture off trail resulted
in
ground strikes in the unconsolidated snow.
We continued up to Balu pass (2070m). On our way up the final
headwall, we
avoided the convex rolls as we were getting easy handshears in the top
10cm
& 30cm. On our way down the turns were more like survival tactics, as
each
bump in the snow held fears of the season ending rock. Needless to
say we
made more zigzags than actual figure eights,
The total snow depth varied from 30-50cm @ 1900m. to 50-60cm at the
pass.
The snowpack was unconsolidated and upside down (meaning denser snow
over
less dense snow), 1Finger resistance in the top 20cms. and 4Finger
resistance below that to ground. Occasional wind drift pockets were
approximately 1m deep. The recent snowfall totaled 10-15cm, with the
top 10
becoming moist with the temp & rain.
The ground features were approx 50% covered, so total snow depth
appears to
have reached threshold for avalanching in steeper terrain.
On the way out we witnessed one large spindrift (loose) avalanche fall
off
some cliffs and 1 size 1.5 wet avalanche (see pic 2) on a N aspect. I
would
suspect a combination of wind (constant 10-30 knots from the West) and
rising temperatures as the trigger. We observed another recent size
1.5 on
the same slide path - both stopped before they reached the valley bottom
(mid runout).
The drainage was quite busy with early season explorers - we counted 9
people in 4 separate parties. Everybody had turned around at the
headwall
when they had encountered the coastal like conditions.
Dave Healey
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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