out for a late morning stroll up to Look Out Col via the Illecillewaet valley
today.
temps remained below zero on the North aspect, with -1.5 at 1500m / 1pm and
-3.2 at 2100m / 3 pm observed. a gentle downflow wind kept things cool.
aprox 5cm of new snow overnight has drifted slightly, leaving pockets up to
10cm deep over top a mix of wind press & temperature crusted snow. in some
spots the new snow had a thin windpress layer on top. we only saw some very
minor cracking around ski tracks (no more than 1m in length) but no signs of
instability - the new snow was not reacting in the area we skied. snow surface
remained dry until reaching the valley floor (aprox 1300m), or where there was
more sun effect, ie westerly aspects. we found slightly moist snow on more
North West aspects in the area, but none on true North aspects. no signs of
pinwheeling or wet sliding snow on any sun affected slopes we observed.
trail breaking was easy with a consistent 5-10cm of ski pen, although it was
more challenging where the new snow overlies a hard windslab.
coverage looked good on the Illecillewaet glacier, with only a few crevasses
visible - see picture below taken from just below the Lookout Col.
happy trails!
dave healey
asg
_______________________________________________
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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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