Went for a much needed tour up Connaught Ck. today with numerous other outdoor enthusiasts.
Weather was in an out fog and light snow flurries with the occasional ray of sunshine hitting the slopes – temps were -2 at the parking lot and -7 at 2200m.
There were a few recent avalanches to size 2.5 that ran during the warm period of the last few days(off the North Aspect of Cheops) and a couple of dry loose size 1.0 sluffs off of Pk. 8812 that ran into upper 8812 bowl.
The snowpack depth varies dramatically with elevation - @40cms in the lower valley (way less on the treed section of the lower trail – meaning dirt at times) – with 100cms to 200cms(depending of if it is scoured or loaded by the winds) above 2000m.
In our profile (which was 135cms deep – so kind of average for the area) we had 40cms of recent soft storm snow (fist to 4 finger resistance) which was overlying a rain crust sandwich – this sandwich consisted of an upper 1cm crust separated by 10cms of soft dry snow from another 1 cm crust. Below that the snow became progressively stronger and was moist for the lower 60cms. This is not a great set up and I suspect that over time that the snow trapped between these crusts will not gain strength or bond well – time will tell but this layer deserves to be monitored.
The other key observation was the presence of variable wind slabs in the upper 40cms of storm snow. This was my primary concern today and I was avoiding steeper ridgecrest features that may have had stiffer snow from the recent strong winds.
All in all it is still a pretty new snowpack with a few potential issues and not a lot of observations to base aggressive decisions on.
As for the trail out – I wore my helmet – need I say more!
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide