[MCR] Rogers Pass - Asulkan Valley - Nov 20

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Just to add some observations from the Asulkan drainage and a few comments
on my thoughts regarding the Nov.8/2010 crust.

 

Trail access still requires walking a couple of short sections (if your
prudent), so don't bother putting your skis on in the parking lot - wait
until you reach the railway grade. Fast track otherwise.

 

Snowpack depths similar to Connaught Ck., but felt a little more settled
with less skiing through to buried obstacles than what I experienced my last
day in Connaught (Nov.18) - limited wind effect from the last storm  systems
has left some great ski quality in the alpine.

 

When I was skiing by the Asulkan hut yesterday (Nov.19) the crew staying
there mentioned they had skier triggered(no involvement) a size 2 slab
avalanche on the steeper slopes that are skiers right of the hut (@2100m.) -
they said it started in the storm snow down about 40cmcs. and propagated
about 10 m. wide, eventually stepping down to the Nov. 8 crust @ 80cms.
Down. 

 

Yesterday was foggy and observations up high were limited( we stayed below
the hut) - today's sunshine however highlighted a large size 2.5-3.0 slab
avalanche that had released from the permanent snowfield on the east face of
Dome Peak (not the Dome Glacier). It looked from a distance to be at least a
meter deep and had propagated the full width of the@ 40 degree snowfield
feature (@ 100-150m.). Hard to say if it ran on the raincrust interface or
not, but it was certainly deep enough, and looked to have occurred near the
end of the storm as the crown is still very evident. The avalanche swept
over the approach route to Sapphire Col, coming to a halt at about the same
elevation as the Cleaver (@ 500m. vertical) - our view of the deposit was
obscured by the moraine.

 

The Nov.8 crust covers all terrain to @ 2500m. after which it is reported to
peter out (I haven't made it that high). At Treeline and Below Treeline
elevations it is close enough to the ground that the crust continuity is
generally broken by ground roughness - the Alpine is a different story and
this layer should be a reason to pause before skiing any steep smooth alpine
features. This layer interface formed after an early Nov. system that had
high freezing levels followed by a snowfall of @ 15-20cms, which
unfortunately sat for way to long before being buried by the snowstorms of
last week. The result of which was a low density layer above the crust -
good skiing at the time, BUT. Last week we had two major systems and a bunch
of dribs and drabs that added @ 60 cms. Of load over the lower density snow
- this resulted in a slab of @ 80cms over the crust. That is deep enough to
get my attention!

 

As the recent storm snow was initially quite low density, with limited wind
affect, the resulting slab has been quite soft(again great skiing!) - things
may change as this recent snow begins to settle and become more cohesive, so
I would urge folks to keep it real until you have a better handle on this
issue. I was impressed to see everyone that ascended the "Steps of Paradise"
on Youngs peak today, stopped and skied down from the bench at the base of
the headwall -  I imagine everyone was thoroughly impressed by the slab they
could see across the valley on the "Dome"!

 

In short there is some great skiing out there with lots of people hitting
it, just remember - "Sticks and Stones CAN BREAK YOUR BONES!" 

 

If you are wondering where some of those stones might be hiding -  I have
attached a couple of photos from Balu Pass and looking up 8812 Bowl taken
Nov.3 - didn't look any different before the last storms came in!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

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