[MCR] Evening Ridge near Whitewater ski resort, southern Selkirk Mountains

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Today I ski toured out to the Nose, which is a ridge that extends north 
from the 'other' side of the Whale's Back on Evening Ridge near 
Whitewater Ski Resort.  I had a fun ski down, but had to ski cautiously 
for two reasons.  The first was low coverage.  There are many small 
trees that have yet to be covered and in many places I had to pick my 
way down through them.  The other reason was the surface hoar buried on 
November 29.  This was the main objective of my trip, to poke around in 
the snow and get an idea of the extent of this layer.

I found it on southern (solar aspects) slopes and on an east facing 
slope.  I didn't bother looking on northern slopes because I knew it was 
there based on the snow profile I did in the Whitewater snow study plot 
on Monday.  In all cases, it was 30-50cm down.  It was not apparent on 
some solar slopes that would have received direct sunlight, instead I 
found a melt/freeze crust.  On shaded solar slopes (in the forest) I did 
find it.  And, it was definitely there where I looked on the eastern 
slope.  The snow covering the layer has settled into a moderately 
cohesive slab.  The compression tests I performed were not conclusive, 
including in the Whitewater study plot, except on the eastern facing 
slope where the layer failed suddenly with moderate compressions.  Hmm, 
what to make of this?

The surface hoar layer appears to be widespread on all aspects except 
sunny slopes where it may exist in isolated pockets.  It doesn't appear 
to be too reactive (easy to trigger) except in pockets on certain 
slopes.  While there hasn't been much, if any, natural avalanche 
activity and little skier traffic to trigger this layer since the storm 
that buried it, I have to wonder, do we have a sleeping dragon out there?

As the winter progresses and we start to venture out into the 
backcountry, I feel a cautious approach would be prudent.  I know I'll 
be avoiding steep slopes, convex rolls and unsupported terrain and 
generally treading lightly on my next few trips.

Craig Hollinger,
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide.