[MCR] Southern Purcells ski touring

Subject: [MCR] Southern Purcells ski touring
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2013 18:01:52 -0800 (PST)
Couple of more days ski touring up the St. Mary's Valley. 

 On Thursday went up Dewar Creek near the southern part of the St May's Alpine park.  We skied a north facing bowl.  There was 110cm of snow at 2000m and 185cm at 2400m.  Skiing was very good.  Some signs of old avalanche activity during the last big system last week out of cliffy steep terrain.  No signs of recent activity.  We dug a few test snow profiles looking for buried surface hoar layers and did not find any signs in the area we skied.  The snow pack felt fairly settled for this time of season and well bonded. The snow pack above treeline was quite variable in depth and I would be concerned in steep convex shallow slopes in the alpine.

Yesterday ski touring up Hellroaring creek branch C.  Started to head towards some north facing terrain and observed widespread settlements and cracking in the upper snowpack while skinning. The warm temperatures and react strong winds have rapidly settled and concolidated the upper snow into a soft slab.  We found well preserved surface hoar up to 10mm buried down 60cm which would be the Dec. 1 layer.  Decided to change our plans and head over to the south facing slopes which we skied earlier in the week.  

I have concern in more advance terrain in the alpine and northerly aspects where the surface h 
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The 
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml#unsubscribe to remove your name from 
this list.