[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Asulkan Valley and Dome Glacier

Subject: [MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Asulkan Valley and Dome Glacier Nov.14/09
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:45:15 -0800
had a good day running up the Asulkan 'highway' to the toe of the Dome glacier. had to slow down for a fat porcupine but no other hazards were encountered. another party of two continued on up onto the ice, but smartly geared up with the rope. no open crevasses were visible from where we ascended to (2000m) but the snow cover on the ice definitely looked thin. the route up to Sapphire Col is a different matter, with several large slots visible beside the Cleaver (sorry, no pic).

temps stayed around -10 throughout the day with light & variable winds. the surface was new snow crystals up to 5mm in size. trail breaking was moderate with a ski penetration of 20cm.

we dug a snow profile to ground at 2000 meters / North aspect; it was a very blank (downright sterile!) picture of a snowpack consisting of decomposing snow crystals (DF's) to ground and not much else. the only layer we could find was a small band of graupel (3mm in size) aprox 100cm down from the surface. resistance was fist (F) in the top 15cm, 4 fingers (4F) in the next 50cm and then 1 finger (1F) from there to ground. we had no results to compression or shear tests. total snow depth was 185cm which appears to be a bit deep for the area. probing at 1900m found depths of 115cm to 150cm.

great turns on the way down - no wind effect was observed. we elected to exit via the up track instead of braving the usual decent through the Mushroom People - still quite sporty thru there (see pic).

no whumphs, cracks or settlements observed & no natural activity was seen.

curious to see what the forecasted midweek precipitation & rising temperatures will do. for now, the happy yodels from the group at the cabin said it all - a nice start to the season.

dave healey

ACMG assistant ski guide






ascending towards the toe of the dome glacier

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the usual exit - looking sporty!


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