Backcountry Conditions Blog

Exploring the backyard

2012-02-08T04:55:13Z

What a day! the weather around Golden these past few days has been glorious with sun and warm temperatures in the alpine. The warm alpine temperatures from over the weekend brought with it a pretty impressive avalanche cycle on many aspects as the snowpack reacted to the warming. Monday and tuesday saw a switch in temperatures and a return to more seasonal values. Today we toured north of the resort and skied NW, N, and E aspect shots with great fast snow, and nice long runs. Throughout the day we saw lots of evidence of the recent avalanche cycle with many cornices failing at some point over the past few days. With that in mind we gave cornices a wide berth and tried to limit our exposure to big overhead hazards. !Overall a great day skiing some new terrain (for me) right out the back door. Of importance is the widespread surface hoar growth on almost all aspects and elevations! Enjoy the clear weather, and remember whats on the surface now when the next storms roll in

Deep in the Dogtooth

2012-02-01T23:03:58Z

What a week! 100+cm in 8 days at Kicking Horse!!

Enjoyed Mother Nature's Bounty in multiple areas this week - Northern Selkirks, Dogtooth Range, Quartz Creek and of course at Kicking Horse Resort. Man did she provide!

As the week progressed avalanche conditions became very touchy. During my travels I observed numerous natural avlanches on almost all aspects as well as a few skier triggered or skier remote triggered avalanches in steeper, windloaded terrain.

Reports from around the area trickled in - natural size 3.5-4 out of the clamshell with debris piles up to 15m deep! Skier remote size 3 outside the Kicking Horse Resort boundary with a crown depth up to 1m deep! Nov. basal weakness waking up in steep rocky terrain as this new load brought buried persistent weak layers back to life.

With this info on the brain, we once again stuck to mainly treed or lower angle terrain. Didn't matter though, the skiing was awesome!!! Now we're in a bit of a weather lull - maybe a few days of sun... As we poke further out into the areas we love to hit I hope we all remember what's still under our feet...

Chargin' in the dogtooth!

2012-01-26T04:13:30Z

The snow has been continuing to pile up in the dogtooth range these days! Yesterday I went for a little sled access touring in the dogtooth range in search of these piles. The avalanche danger was on the rise yesterday with a forecast of high/high/considerable we chose terrain that allowed us to feel things out before commiting to the lines. We skied a nice north facing treed avalanche path with lots of mellower entrances. Throughout the day light snow was falling, but no sign of the forecast winds that were to accompany the storm. Since we were skiing in a sheltered bowl we chose to cut our day short and head out as we were not sure what was going on at ridge top. As soon as we came out of our sheltered little playground we were greeted with strong winds and rapid loading. Felt good to cross the avalanche paths and head out before things really picked up. Today... the winds picked up... the snow came down, and man was she DEEP! Happy 2 meters!

Dogtooth Goodness

2012-01-13T03:24:11Z

It never takes more than the first couple of turns to be reminded how good the skiing in the Dogtooth Range can be!

The recent storm snow has settled significantly over the last few days resulting in that silky goodness that pushes back against your skis or board as you press into your turn. We found our bounty in areas sheltered from the recent winds that wreaked havoc on exposed north through east aspects. In those areas, new cornice and slab formation made for a touchy surface instability that has not totally healed yet.

As the video updates have mentioned, we are also dealing with a couple of nasty persistent layers capable of producing large distructive avalanches if triggered. Results on these layers have become less frequent but knowing they were there, we chose terrain that we had significant historical info on (ie. past avalanches or significant skier compaction).

There's some great skiing to be had out there right now! Man, I love my backyard!!

Dear Santa...

2011-12-26T01:21:57Z

I asked for the same thing I ask for every year from Santa - Please bring me POW!!

I got my wish early this year! Spent Christmas Eve floating in knee deep pow! We saw signs of recent avalance activity on the dec 11 surface hoar layer - anything steep and open had run 20-40cm deep and any steep roll that had not run was easily triggered with a quick slice. We stayed tucked in the tighter trees until the slope angle mellowed out.

Looking out the window, Santa is still delivering!! Guess tighter trees and mellow slope angle is gonna be the choice for a while.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

November Exploration

2011-11-19T03:56:50Z

Got out in the Purcells for a little look today... Let's just say that Nov. 18, 2011 was pretty damn fine!

Avalanche Hazard info has been trickling in from those out hunting for early season pow - great skiing but 'touchy' conditions to say the least. We took that info to heart and decided to stick to low angle, simple to challenging terrain. We saw some evidence of recent avalanche activity in the alpine, serious variability in snowpack depth

(ranging from 20 to 120+cm within the same elevation band) as well as evidence of wind loading and surface slab formation. As we toured around we heard numerous whumphs below our feet confirming for us that we had made the right choices.

There's some amazing snow out there! I may have to go ski some more of it tomorrow but I think I'll tread lightly!

Caution...Pow Turns ahead!

2011-11-12T02:10:57Z

headed out to quartz to check out the state of the snow on Monday. Quick update: 60cms at the cabin. 75cms at the top of the cabin runs. Evidence of avalanche activity on North facing slopes from before the last storm...some sliding to ground. Countless powder turns caused numerous smiles and cheers of joy! Looks like we are lining up for a nice series of storms. Get out there and stretch your legs! Sounds like the standard early season zones are busy and the reports are GOOD!

UPDATE: WINTER HAS A STRANGLE HOLD ON THE HIGH COUNTRY

2011-10-28T03:20:40Z

With the valley receiving its first snowflakes of the season we set off into the depths of the Purcells for some October turns. What we found was far superior then expected with delicious pow turns, sunshine, and a great reminder why we all love winter. A solid 2.5 hour drive, quick sled shuttle and great tour had us topping out on our first run of the day at just under 3000m. Coverage on the glacier was excellent with anywhere from 70 to 100cms of evenly distributed cold winter snow from the peak right down to the toe. Little was seen in terms of avalanche activity with the exception of small point releases from rocky outcrops and one size one that deposited about 50-75cms of snow on the access road at approximately 2150m. There are turns out there to be had if you work for it..... Here’s to another great winter filled with deep turns, runs of the year and high fives!

Let's Start Blogging!

2011-10-18T04:22:01Z

Might as well get this seasons blogs off to a start! After a couple of weeks of cooler temps and snow starting to accumulate high up on the peaks, it was time to go and seek out winter. We left Golden on October 15th and hoisted heavy packs and skis up the Forester. Our sites were set on the Catamount glacier. Having a late start we opted to spend a night at the Dave White hut and then to ascend to the glacier in the morning. With snow already accumulating at valley bottom we were pumped to get up high. The moraines proved to be far more challenging than we'd expected! Coming off the couch with a large pack and skis on the back it was a refreshing awakening to the fact that rewards in the mountains only come from insanely hard work.

After the arduous climb we finally stepped foot on to the glacier and set our sites on getting to the Olive hut. With crevasses being thinly covered we tip toed in areas, but had little problems. Once at the hut our heads were spinning with anticipation of our first turns of the year. With the sun fading into the evening we raced up a slope above the hut and laid down buttery smooth turns amongst the granite and ice back drop. Spectacular to say the least! We sipped scotch and fell asleep feeling that purpose had been restored to our lives, back to sliding on snow! Here's to the winter season at our door step....get out there!

And It Don't Stop And It Won't Stop!!

2011-05-10T04:09:18Z

May 9th hey? Bluebird? Maybe the odd cloud? Thank god for that cause when there was no cloud, man was it hot! I may have even caught a glimpse of some skin! How was the snow? Well, you gotta get up there pretty high and find yourself a true north aspect but there's still pow out there!

The best run of the day for me started around 2700m, due north, with minimal rock to aid the sun in baking the snow. Don't tell anyone else but I even got a faceshot!

In the area we were in today we saw a number of recent wet slides on all aspects with any sort of feature that could focus the suns intense energy. None of them appeared to be any deeper that 20cm and all started from a point and then entrained the snow below.

It seems that it's all about timing now. We seem to be getting reasonable freezes overnight these days (above 2000m) but with this weeks forecast I'm guessing the refreeze will be breaking down quickly during the day.

Tell you what though, after the good times today, I'll definitely be trying again and maybe again after that!