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Myself and three guests completed this trip yesterday and
found reasonable conditions given the avalanche danger rating but we also didn't
venture much into avalanche terrain. In
the French Creek drainage we experienced numerous whumpfs; many were localized
but some propagated throughout the woods around us (all reacting on the Feb. 11
layer ~40cm down in that location). Travel was decent with 20cm ski penetration
in most spots and became easier as we got above treeline where recent winds have
hardened the snow surface. We observed one old (~24hrs, sz. 2) natural slab on a
SE-facing slope off The
French Glacier was mostly covered
with just a few patches of ice showing. Same goes for the Haig Glacier with
only a small portion of ice (that we could see) showing below Mt. Sir Douglas.
The steep (40-degree & 130m tall), south-facing slope guarding the
Robertson/Sir Douglas col was our biggest challenge. Fortunately, high clouds
kept the sun's strength diminished for most of the day. Strong SW winds had scoured the slope but as we stood in a
sheltered area below, we experienced a
large, rolling whumpf. That encouraged us to stick to shallow snow and frozen scree on our ascent, which made for harder travel but
kept us out of avalanche terrain. Despite recent winds the Robertson Glacier was still good skiing up high. We detoured easily around a few open crevasses in the middle. We observed an old (~36hrs, sz 3) and very large natural slab that had pulled out from partway up Whistling Ridge's E face, likely sympathetically releasing another slab on the opposite side of the valley. Below that we broke trail down-valley again as well. High temps were around -5, low around -8 with cloudy skies in the morning clearing up to lots of blue in the afternoon. Winds were calm rising to moderate throughout the day out of the NW. Snow depth ranged from ~100cm below treeline to over 300cm in wind-deposited areas on the Haig but averaged around 150cm on the glaciers. Andrew Councell
_______________________________________________ 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. |
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