[MCR] Aster Lake Area, Kananaskis Country

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

 <<Mt Warrior.jpg>> Ju <<Mt Joffre.jpg>> st spent the past three days
(March 17-19th) ski touring around Aster lake in Kananaskis Country.  

There was a strong SW wind event on the evening of the 16th that carried
on into the evening of the 17th.  Trees were rocking around and we were
expecting most alpine terrain to be wind hammered.  On the 18th we were
able to climb up towards Mt Warrior and find that the alpine had
(surprisingly) little to no wind affect.  We were encountering pockets
of soft slabs up to 40cm thick along ridgelines and in immediate lees
but there was not the widespread hard slabs that we were expecting.  We
were able to find a surface hoar/facet/preserved stellar layer down
40-60cm throughout the area that was producing moderate sheers.  As
expected, the surface hoar was most apparent on northern aspects and in
below treeline areas.  In the alpine, there were isolated pockets of
surface hoar but it was not as widespread.   Ski quality was excellent
in low density boot-top powder and on average 250-300cm in the alpine.

We stuck mainly to N aspects and skied alpine terrain up to 30deg and
below treeline areas up to 35deg(ish).  There are some big cornices up
in this area so we choose routes that avoided being underneath these
types of hazards.  

On Friday skies were clear and we were able to get a look back towards
Mt Joffre (see photo).  More snow in this area than I have seen in some
time.  Travel in and out via hidden lake was pleasant.  

Mike Koppang
Public Safety Specialist
Kananaskis Country, AB

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