Subject: | [MCR] Sandon & London Ridge, Goat Range, South Selkirks |
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Date: | Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:21:35 -0800 |
Here is some field
info after teaching AST 1 and 2 courses from Jan. 6-10 in the New Denver
area:
Jan. 7 (light rain
and overcast at 7:30am in New Denver). Up white Creek in Sandon as the
storm was winding down we were getting isolated whumpfing with large
loads (several skiers) and able to trigger small unsupported features down 25-30
cm on the Jan. 4 surface hoar, which was quite large in
one clearcut near valley bottom.
Jan. 8 (-1C
and overcast at 7:30am in New Denver). At 6100ft. on a NE aspect (Sandon,
Cable Bowl) we had easy compression test results with a progressive compression
fracture character on the Jan 4 storm snow interface and could not locate
the surface in an open glade. A facet layer down 50-60cm gave hard results
with a resistant planar character. Good ski quality up high, but alders
were still poking out below about 5500ft. The new storm snow did
allow us to ski the tighter forest right down to valley bottom without too much
trouble.
Jan. 9 (-6C
and overcast at 7am in New Denver). 25-30cm deep trail breaking to
the London Ridge area. Visibility opened up in the alpine and we saw
numerous crown lines from a cycle that occurred during the last storm (25-35cm
deep with up to 10cm new load on bed surfaces). Most slabs did not run
full path but one size 2-2.5 on a steep, east aspect at ridgetop (7400ft)
caught our eye. Light to moderate wind transport had occurred at ridgetop
from a southwesterly flow. Many layers were visible in the snowpack on a
south aspect at 5700ft but the storm snow down 30cm (giving easy, resistant
shears but no result on an Extended Column Test) and a faceted crust down
65-80cm (giving hard, variable results) seemed the most
active.
Jan. 10 (-11C and
clear at 8am in New Denver). Back at London Ridge (great skiing) we
found 2 more size 2s on south and east aspects that failed on the Jan. 4 layer
during the last storm. At 6000 ft. on a SE aspect we had moderate,
variable fracture character results on the storm interface down 35cm and hard
results on a thick crust layer down ~100cm (in a 170cm snow pack) which gave
some sudden planar and some broken fracture characters (Extended Column Test No
result). HS 200cm at our high point of 6700cm on a somewhat lee
slope.
Excellent ski
quality, but we were avoiding larger, steep, open slopes, convexities and
unsupported features and employing safe travel practices to minimize our
exposure.
Cheers,
Shaun King ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide
Mountain Sense Guiding &
Instruction
_______________________________________________ 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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