Today I tried to ski up Mt Macpherson from Revelstoke with a
friend. There was 10cm of new snow in the parking lot when we arrived, and
another 15cm by the time we returned. We managed to make use of a couple of old
skin trails, but for the most part ski penetration was around 50cm, and up to
120cm in places, making for tough trail breaking. Below 1900m the snow pack was
right side up with no inconsistencies or new wind effects, and minimal
avalanche concerns apart from sluffing. Above 1900m the avalanche danger rapidly
increased. We started to encounter low density wind pillows up to 140cm deep,
and it was hollow underneath. By the time we reached 2100m there was a widespread
inconsistency down 80cm, and we did not feel comfortable continuing. We
observed a couple of natural loose snow avalanches to size 1, but no slab
avalanches.
The skiing back down was great. Our biggest concern was
sluff management, and trying to see where we were going with all the face
shots.
Be careful out there, there is a lot of new snow and we were cautious with our terrain choices.
Alex Geary
ACMG Ski Guide & Apprentice Rock Guide