[MCR] Monashee Mountains, West of the Perry River, NE of the Gorge Ck ski touring area, as of Dec 23rd pm, 2010

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Just finished 31 days largely in this neighbourhood, first at Mustang Powder and then at K3 catskiing.  Ski travel as of the evening of the 23rd was excellent, both up and down. Walking sucked, both up and down. Average snow depth above 1400m was around 100 to 150 cm. This shallow snowpack is relatively strong in most areas, hence the good ski quality. 

As of the evening of the 23rd, we had no really significant widespread weak layers. Steep, directly south facing terrain had a nasty sun-crust with facetted snow above it about 70cm down now. We saw no avalanches on this layer and never found it anywhere even slightly off of true south or moderately angled. We were also avoiding Steep alpine NW through NE slopes. This was only because we hadn't had an opportunity to check out the snowpack in these places. All of the alpine North facing in the K3 tenure is BIG and steep so there was no way to sneak in and have a look around with guests. No real concerns other than a lack of direct observations.

Big snow in the forecast so the world will likely change dramatically over the weekend. If we get a big pile of new snow, it will be a good test of the lower snowpack. I am hoping we will just see storm snow avalanches, this will be a good sign that we can forget about the november rain-crust and various other vague layers that have given us pause but not much negative feedback.

Finally, lots of open creeks, even in relatively high elevations. If it looks like open water, it probably is open water.

Merry Christmas and all that,

Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide