[MCR] Hankin Mountain - Kitseguecla Valley - Bulkley Valley

Subject: [MCR] Hankin Mountain - Kitseguecla Valley - Bulkley Valley
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:58:37 -0800
A short day trip to the Hankin Mountain area allowed us to get to know this area better. We reached the alpine in the early afternoon and had no time to do much. Saw some tracks to ridgelines. I dug a pit at treeline and was shocked to find only 100 cm of snow. That seems to be it. The top 30 cm fell on top of a crust complex from the rain in early January. In a compression test, that layer failed when hitting the block hard with a sudden collapse. An extended column test did not propagate across the block. The bottom 30 cm are big facets. We saw no evidence of avalanches. There were small cornices at the ridgetops and the steep terrain below the ridges looked like the snowpack is quite variable. It was -2 degrees at 1500 m. Skiing quality was reasonable, but the tree runs sure have a lot of bumps from logs and stumps. The area is getting a fair amount of use and the access is very good and close to the highway.

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Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide
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