[MCR] Huckleberry Hut area / Bonnington Range near Nelson, BC

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Just back from 2 sunny days at the Huckleberry.  The 20 cm that fell on
Thursday has settled out to about 10 with the warming.  I probed ~3m at the
hut (1550m) and found wet grains down about a metre.
Timing and aspect were key as everything seems to have been temperature
affected right to ridgetop.  We had a good freeze overnight and woke to
~15cm surface crust on May 1 but it was laminated (5cm melt-freeze, 5cm new
rounds, 5cm melt-freeze).  Good spring skiing on Midday (NE) and Cabin (SE)
peaks.  
 
The snowpack held up remarkably well to the day time heating.  Apart from
minor surface sluffing on the steeps I saw only one old size 1.5 on the
south aspect of Commonwealth Peak.  Cornices were plenty big on E-NE aspects
though.
 
We skied the drainage below the hut down to Barrett Creek (instead of
following the road) on the way out to check the exit and found the old
logging road (now flagged) that lead us up to the Barrett FSR.  This is a
neat exit with some fun skiing if you get down before the heat of the day.
 
 
   
 
See more pics at
<http://mountainsense.ca/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=11051>
http://mountainsense.ca/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=11051
 
Cheers,
Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide
Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction
www.mountainsense.ca  
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