[MCR] Coast Mountains, Russet lake area conditions

Camped at Russet Lake Hut we made ascents/descents of nearby features including Whirlwind Peak from Mar 30th to Apr 2nd, 2015.

The trip started very stormy with high freezing levels (up to 2000m) and strong winds from the

SW. The winds peaked on the first evening and then subsided. This  trend was accompanied by

falling temperatures and light snow falls up to 15 cm. The unsettled airmass remained with us

for a couple days and eventually cleared on the last morning of the trip only to deteriorate again

late in the day.

Travel conditions were generally good, initially with wet snow surfaces which changed to

supportable crust after the freezing levels lowered. In the following day we experienced a

compact upper snowpack at higher elevations with good powder skiing.

We observed a number of size 2 cornice falls and some size 3 avalanches on distant peaks that

appeared to have failed during the height of the warm temperatures during the storm. Easy to

moderate snowpack test results in thin surface layers were present. The March 11 is generally

buried down 1.5m and produced hard results.

Les Manley

Apprentice Ski Guide

Whistler Alpine Guides

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