Hi all,
We had a very pleasant day ski touring in the Crowfoot glades today. There was close to 15cm of low density & evenly distributed overnight snow in this area. We had glimpses of blue skies with temperatures ranging from -7C to -10C and generally light winds where we skied. Alpine winds were strong from the west and there was quite a bit of snow transport up high. We skied moderately steep supported terrain (<38deg.) between 2200m and 1900m elevation. The snowpack was supportive and the ski quality excellent.
The average snowpack height at tree line elevation was 165cm. We observed some whumpfing and cracking mostly at treeline. We didn't see or triggered any new slab avalanches but did see evidence of a cycle in the last 48 hours on the steeper alpine slopes above the tree apron. These slides ranges from size 1.5 to 2.5 and by the looks of things likely fell on the February 10th layer. There was ongoing spindrift on steep rock faces all day.
A quick snow profile at 2100m on a northeast aspect showed a moderate shear with sudden collapse characteristics down 70cm. This was definitely the February 10th layer; we found some old surface hoar and weak faceted grains there.
All in all a great venue despite the current touchy conditions!
Cheers,
David Lussier
ACMG Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com
We had a very pleasant day ski touring in the Crowfoot glades today. There was close to 15cm of low density & evenly distributed overnight snow in this area. We had glimpses of blue skies with temperatures ranging from -7C to -10C and generally light winds where we skied. Alpine winds were strong from the west and there was quite a bit of snow transport up high. We skied moderately steep supported terrain (<38deg.) between 2200m and 1900m elevation. The snowpack was supportive and the ski quality excellent.
The average snowpack height at tree line elevation was 165cm. We observed some whumpfing and cracking mostly at treeline. We didn't see or triggered any new slab avalanches but did see evidence of a cycle in the last 48 hours on the steeper alpine slopes above the tree apron. These slides ranges from size 1.5 to 2.5 and by the looks of things likely fell on the February 10th layer. There was ongoing spindrift on steep rock faces all day.
A quick snow profile at 2100m on a northeast aspect showed a moderate shear with sudden collapse characteristics down 70cm. This was definitely the February 10th layer; we found some old surface hoar and weak faceted grains there.
All in all a great venue despite the current touchy conditions!
Cheers,
David Lussier
ACMG Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com
