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Hi all,
We just wrapped up our first Nelson based AST-1 course of the season. On Saturday we did some companion rescue work at the base of Whitewater ski resort and on Sunday we toured on the sunny slopes of Cornice Ridge at Kootenay Pass.
At Kootenay Pass (1775m) the snowpack is close to 100cm and skiing above this elevation is decent. This area recently received up to 25cm of low density storm snow which is overlying a supportive crust that formed last Friday. This new snow is evenly distributed and we only observed minor wind affect near ridge top. We did some snowpack observations and compression tests at 2000m on an East aspect on Cornice Ridge where the height of snow was 120cm. Tests showed moderate results with sudden collapse characteristics down 80cm on the November 21st layer. The storm slab overlying this weak layer was in the pencil hardness range and the weak facet layer below in the 1 finger hardness range.
We did not see any avalanches or evidence of a recent cycle, perhaps this was masked by the new storm snow. Many folks were out enjoying the sun and skiing some steeper open terrain. Overall, the conditions are shaping up but it is early season and there are plenty of barely covered hazards, particularly below treeline.
Have a great start to the winter season!
David Lussier
mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com
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cornice east.jpg
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snowpack at 2000m.jpg
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