Well from all those great MCR’s out there it is
obvious that people are now getting out and taking advantage of the great early
season conditions.
A late start today with Dog in tow limited our options, so
we decided to check out NRC Gully.
Weather was mostly sunny and cool and it looked like around another
5-10cms over the old up track – we had a cool NE wind in the light to
moderate range with wind transport visible on the higher peaks.
I will keep this short – still pretty aldery down low
(means wear your goggles and keep your tips in sight!) with some tracks from
earlier parties – we worked our way up into NRC bowl and ascend quite
high and managed to get a decent run out of it – snow depths up there
were around 120-140cms. with some shallow areas and large boulders to avoid.
There was an old avalanche deposit from the last storm cycle
that ran quite a ways down the bowl (see attached photo) – I say this so
that people keep in mind that even when the valleys are thin avalanches can definitely
run to valley bottom at this point in the season with the right conditions (see
below)
So for now the skiing is still great and there are lots of
people out there (I counted 20 cars in the Asulkan Parking area) – and
the rest of the weekend looks great too if not quite so bluebird as today (remember
Timing is everything).
HOWEVER things are going to change on MONDAY and TUESDAY as
there looks to be a significant WARMUP on the way, so please if you are planning
on going out after the weekend take all these recent postings with a grain of
salt and truly evaluate what is going on – remember that Connaught
Ck. is a shooting gallery of large paths that deserves respect (especially the “Frequent
Flyer path which the summer trail crossed mid runout – it is just after the
bridge where you gain the North side of Connaught Ck. – this baby runs
fast and far early in the season!).
Have fun while it last and pray for low Freezing levels!
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
