[MCR] Evening Ridge, Southern Selkirks

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Hi all,

We were out for a quick morning tour on the the Whales Back today. We skied between 2100m and 1500m, the snow pack depth varied from about 140 cm up high to 110cm lower down. The recent storm snow from the last few days totaled 15cm. There were very few signs of recent wind transport or wind affect in the treeline and below treeline areas we were in. We observed no signs of instability. Ski quality was very good and despite lower then normal snowpack depth, the early season hazards (rocks, logs, alders, etc.) are generally well covered in this area.

We did a few snowpack tests and got some interesting results on the November 28th layer. On an East aspect at 2070m we had a hard compression test (CTH 23) sudden planar shear down 60cm on old surface hoar crystals 6mm in size. On a South aspect the same layer sheared as a hard resistant planar shear (CTH 30) and was only 45cm down, the surface hoar crystals were harder to detect on this aspect and were overlying an old 2cm thick sun crust. Due to incremental loading and warmer temperatures the slab above this weak layer is consolidating, today it was in the 1 finger to 1 finger plus resistance range. 

This layer has not been reactive in the southern Selkirks recently. This may change if we get more snow or if skiers start pushing into more committing terrain. Places I would be worried about right now are steep unsupported slopes or large convex rolls on northerly aspects at treeline and in the alpine where this layer is deeper and surface hoar crystals preserved. 

Play safe & Merry Christmas everyone!

David Lussier
acmg mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com

 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20131224/2b02d1c9/attachment.htm>