Hi all,
I headed up the Asulkan Valley yesterday for my first tour of the season. The
snowpack tapers greatly with elevation; really boney below 1600m and pretty
nicely winter above. Recent winds have left their mark with huge variability in
snow amounts over the November rain crust - anywhere from 30 to 80cm down above
1800m yesterday. All this has certainly changed with the passage of the storm
overnight but...
Talking with people who have ventured up the Connaught drainage over the past
few weeks and as recently as yesterday, I got the impression that the November
crust wasn't particularly reactive. In fact, multiple compression tests results
in the Balu Pass area yesterday were resistant to fail or just plain
non-reactive. Most of the concern was centred around near-surface slabs created
by recent winds.
However, in the less traveled Asulkan drainage we dug a profile at 2100m on a
NE aspect just below the hut. Our tests pooped easily in a 2cm layer of large
rotten crystals over the crust 40cm down. This result is dramatically different
from what has been seen elsewhere in the pass which might suggest that this
interface is quite variable - or at least different from the Connaught creek
drainage. Probably worth investigating this layer as we start skiing in areas
that have limited data and/or use so far this season.
All in all a great day of early season skiing and the ski out the Asulkan was
just fine.
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