On Sept. 13, a couple days after a bit of new snow up high we took the skis for a walk to the Keyhole and skied the Kokanee Glacier down to Coffee Pass.
The new snow was up to 15cm in the sheltered drifts at the Keyhole, but settled snow on the glacier amounted to all of 4cm which was all we needed as the firn snow beneath was surprisingly smooth.
The new snow was not enough to hide crevasses so the more broken areas were still very visible.
The lower elevations on the glacier were more sparsely covered with bare ice showing through. We brought ski crampons for the ascent but were able to squeak by without them by linking snow patches.
Great skiing for mid Sept. but with the continued sun we've had since then I would not expect such good conditions now. The next cold rain event could change that though.
More pics at www.facebook.com/mountainsense
Cheers,
Shaun King ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide
Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction
