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I went for a short tour on my way to my Mom’s house for Christmas dinner. I was north of the Bow Summit area, on an east aspect between 1750 m and 2300 m.
A pretty thin snowpack here still, only about 100 cm. But like everywhere this season so far it was supportive in both the forest and open areas.
I saw snowballing and small loose dry avalanches coming out of steep, cliffy terrain when the sun hit it. This even though it was still about -20 in the shade. Something to think about if you are skiing couloirs like many of us have been doing during this period of stable conditions.
I also saw evidence of a size 2 avalanche that had been triggered by an icefall. This had occurred overnight after yesterday afternoon’s snowfall. I was surprised that this rather benign looking serac had calved seeing as it was -26 when I left the truck.
Finally, of note more to ice climbers and alpinists perhaps, I saw another avalanche that had occurred overnight. This was on an east facing hanging snowfield at about 2900 m. It was a deep persistent slab, about 120 cm deep, and had failed on the ground. Probably triggered by a cornice. It did not propagate across the entire snowfield, it was only about 15-20 m wide.
Turkey dinner was good tonight!
Mark Klassen
ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide
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