After two days of mild, wet weather in Nelson, I was expecting slushy
conditions in Kootenay Pass today. It was mild, but the skiing was
great. At the highway elevation about 35cm of snow (and some rain)
accumulated during the past storm.
We toured around Baldy Rocks and The Crags and made ski runs on
southeastern and southern aspects through an elevation range of 2200m to
1800m. We dug two hasty pits on different aspects at 2100m. The Dec 29
surface hoar was found down 70cm on the western aspect and reacted to
moderate to hard compression tests with planar shears. On the
southeastern aspect the Dec 29 crust (no surface hoar) was down 35cm and
produced no results. On both aspects the storm snow was reacting to
moderate compression tests with progressive failures. We skied mostly
moderate terrain, but ski cutting steeper convex rolls produced only
sloughing. There was no evidence of recent avalanche activity although
there was some snowballing on the lower southern aspects.
There seemed to be a 'stepped' temperature change around the 2000m
level. Below this elevation the temperature was near freezing, above
the temperature was -3. The sky was overcast most of the day with a
brief sun appearance mid-day. Later, a system moved in and snow was
falling when we got back to the car at 3:30PM. At the lower elevations
the snow was moist. While skinning up from the bottom of our runs, the
snow was starting to ball up under our skis.
Craig Hollinger,
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.
|