[MCR] Kootenay Pass, Southern Selkirk Mountains

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Went out for a quick ski tour up Cornice Ridge in Kootenay Pass today.  
Much better conditions than I expected.  Here are a few observations 
from my trip.

There was about 80cm of snow at the highway and around 110cm up higher.  
The air temperature was -5C during the afternoon and the wind was 
moderate out of the south-west.  The wind was transporting a significant 
amount of snow building up the cornices on the ridge (that's why it's 
called Cornice Ridge).

I dug a hasty pit at 1900m and found a thin melt/freeze crust down 
40cm.  The snow below that was well consolidated.  I dropped in off the 
summit of the ridge and skied down in the bowl below.  With the wind the 
new snow just below the ridge was starting to form a soft slab, but the 
only concerns I had was the sloughing with each turn. After my run, I 
gained the ridge again and skied back to the car.  I managed to leave 
some p-tex on a couple of poorly covered rocks on the lower part of the 
ridge.  Be careful down low.

It was a busy day in the Pass, the parking lot was as full as I've ever 
seen it.  Great start to the season.

Craig Hollinger,
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide.