I spent the day at Hankin NW of Smithers today. It snowed only 5 to 10
cm there, and that slowed down from noon on. The upper wind shifted from
S to NE during the day. A pit at 1300 m showed 10 cm of recent storm
snow that sheared easily in several tests. I saw no persistent weak
layers. There is still only 90-120 cm of snow at treeline, and many
rocks are exposed. In the afternoon, we went to the west and climbed the
valley below Cardiac Arrest. The ridges were strongly wind affected,
with hard snow and sastrugi. We saw no recent avalanches, but the
visibility wasn't great. I think that there are windslabs in isolated
areas, but there has not been a lot of snow to blow around. Those thin
windslabs are probably mostly in NE aspects, but the afternoon's NE
winds will have built some in southerly aspects too. Below treeline,
it's good skiing, but still pretty thin.
--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
Mountain Guide
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