[MCR] Bow Hut Avalanches

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Hello Fellow Skiers,

I just finished a quick overnight trip to the Bow Hut and thought I'd throw
out a few observations we made.

The first, and most significant was the release of a few avalanches above
the hut within the last 24hrs (probably last night). All the slopes below
the seracs had avalanched. No real surprise given their location, but one
in particular got my attention. The slope directly above the hut had also
released size 2.5 or so. The crown was a meter plus for about 80 meters and
I'd guess 2 m on its edges. To clarify, this slope is immediately below the
short cut approach to Olive/St Nick col, but off the glacier. Unlike the
others, there is no large overhead trigger on this one. The bed surface
wasn't ground, so it seems there is another layer to blame out there
besides the depth hoar we all talk about. I'll be giving overhead hazards a
lot more respect in the next while (ie cornices).

The other observation was how the cold tightened everything up. Even the
approach slope to the hut had an eery sound/feel to it compared to the
evening before. We chose to ski it one at a time. As you can guess the
skiing was slow because of the cold snow. This morning it was -27 with
moderate west winds off the glacier.

Just a few thoughts that came through my head as it thawed out on the drive
home.

-- 
Matt Mueller
403-688-4341
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