[MCR] Rockies: Helen Ridge

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

We went for a short tour yesterday on the Helen Ridge, on the east side of the Parkway, traveling on west, east and south aspects, between 1950 m and 2500 m. A beautiful day with some good turns, we did runs off Sugar Col and in the Helen Ridge burn.

It is still a thin snowpack in this zone. Depths were generally in 80-100cm range. That said the snow was surprisingly supportive for early season in the Rockies. We dug at least five times in our 5 hour tour to check on the December 3 interface. Our investigations verified the local avalanche bulletin.

We found surface hoar down 30 cm at 2050m where the rocky terrain created large openings in the forest. There was mostly unconsolidated snow atop the surface hoar so it was not a concern on the steep slope we ascended here.

All our other investigations at higher elevations did not show a prominent surface hoar layer but there is a distinct layer of facets below the Dec 3 interface, between 25-45 cm down from the surface. There is little difference in hardness between the upper snow and the facets so it was mostly non-reactive to column tests. We had one “pop” compression test result, 45 cm down from the surface, on a wind loaded east aspect at 2500 m (Sugar Col). This was a stiff wind slab failing at the Dec 3 interface. The thicker, harder slab atop the facets was the reason for this result, but this slab was not present further down slope. Even so, we chose to ski a supported feature with an incline in the low 30s.

The greatest hazard of the day were the numerous rocks still lurking near the surface. I recommend skiing cautiously and wearing a helmet if skiing in this zone, until the snowpack gets deeper.

Mark Klassen
ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide
Banff-Lake Louise, Canada
Alpinism | » Avalanche Skills Training 2 January 2016 <http://alpinism.com/avalanche-skills-training-2-january-2016/>
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