[MCR] Lookout Col, Roger's Pass, Selkirks

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

out for a late morning stroll up to Look Out Col via the Illecillewaet valley today.

temps remained below zero on the North aspect, with -1.5 at 1500m / 1pm and -3.2 at 2100m / 3 pm observed. a gentle downflow wind kept things cool.

aprox 5cm of new snow overnight has drifted slightly, leaving pockets up to 10cm deep over top a mix of wind press & temperature crusted snow.  in some spots the new snow had a thin windpress layer on top.  we only saw some very minor cracking around ski tracks (no more than 1m in length) but no signs of instability - the new snow was not reacting in the area we skied.  snow surface remained dry until reaching the valley floor (aprox 1300m), or where there was more sun effect, ie westerly aspects.  we found slightly moist snow on more North West aspects in the area, but none on true North aspects.  no signs of pinwheeling or wet sliding snow on any sun affected slopes we observed.

trail breaking was easy with a consistent 5-10cm of ski pen, although it was more challenging where the new snow overlies a hard windslab.

coverage looked good on the Illecillewaet glacier, with only a few crevasses visible - see picture below taken from just below the Lookout Col.

happy trails!

dave healey
asg

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