Just wrapping up a week of ski touring at Valkyr Adventures (Naumulten Mountain) just south-east of Nakusp, BC in the Valkyr Range.
Weather:
Conditions were highly variable during the week. We started last Monday with ridge of high pressure, cold temperatures and moderate to strong ridge-top winds that lasted through Wednesday. A pacific frontal system hit on Thursday and Friday bringing 25-30 cm's of storm snow and intense winds and snow transport in the alpine and open treeline. Temps also rose to-2C. Saturday saw a clearing trend with a drop in temperature to-12. Another frontal system arrived on Sunday night bringing roughly an additional 20 cm's and light to moderate southerly winds, temperatures were in the-5 to-9 C range. The BIG factor for the week was the mod-strong winds and intense snow transport that left windslabs on all aspects (highly variable winds) and at most elevations.
Avalanche Activity and Significant Weak Layers:
A few size 1.0 skier triggered, natural and cornice triggered were observed midweek in the old storm cycle down 6-25 cm's deep. Hazards/Concerns were for buried windslab, new storm snow instabilities (mostly sloughing) and shallow rocky start zones with basal facets and crusts.
We were avoiding steep shallow unsupported terrain and cautious of areas with buried windslab. Looks like a nice reset this morning with 20ish cm's of new storm snow.
Cheers,
Scott and Emily Grady (SG, ARG/ASG)