[MCR] Mistaya Lodge, Rockies January 11

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Myself and Terry Palechuk are at Mistaya Lodge this week with a Thompson
Rivers University ski touring group.  Mistaya Lodge is located about 7
km northwest of Peyto Hut.  http://www.mistayalodge.com/

Yesterday (January 11) one group toured up the Baker glacier (aka Wildcat
Glacier) to the Baker-Trapper Col, reaching an elevation of 2800m, and was
able to look down onto the Peyto Glacier and Peyto Hut on the Wapta
Icefield.  Our second group toured up on the SW facing slopes above the
lodge to treeline.  Stunning views with a clear sky.

The morning temperature of -29 warmed to -20 by mid-day.  We observed no new
natural avalanche activity.  We observed several old slab avalanches from
the tail end of the last storm (around January 7th) to size 2.5, mainly
initiating from steep rocky areas on lee (NE facing) slopes at around 2400m
elevation.   The recent storm brought about 25 cm of new snow to the Wildcat
basin.

The December 27th surface hoar/facet layer is producing moderate clean
shears down approximately 50cm, and the December 9th surface hoar is
inconsistently reactive, with hard results.  No whumpfing or cracking.
There has been moderate southwest wind working the snow surface and
transporting snow above 2200m in the alpine.  At 2000m there is a 100cm
snowpack, and we probed 160cm at 2700m on the Wildcat/Baker Glacier.

Ski quality is generally good in the trees down to 2000m as well as in the
alpine with a surprisingly supportive mid-snowpack.

At 08:00 today (January 12) temperatures have warmed to -20 with 2 cm of new
snow overnight, and more forecast over the next 4 days.

Jordy Shepherd
Mountain Guide

Terry Palechuk
Ski Guide
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