Regional Discussion Forums

May 16 Cleveland

Kirstie S. — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:48:13 GMT

May 16, 2013 Cleveland. The snow pack is an early spring snowpack, not a late one - lots left. Noted a number of size 2s – 2.5 but not pulling out to ground. Spring time full snowpack release has not happened yet at higher elevations. Avalanche activity was predominantly on the north aspects , started at rocks and stepped down. Cornices were also collapsing on the N aspects and pulling out mostly upper to mid-snowpack – but not to ground. I am not sure if it’s a good thing or not that the snowpack is not pulling out to ground ( the basal facets may have strengthened) but I am leaning towards its more of an issue of a waiting game. Noted one spring slide pull out to ground and that was on a N aspect about half way down the W/NW facing Cleveland Glacier - a size 3 and it ran a long way. Corn snow conditions on lower Cleveland yesterday early afternoon just lovely. Upper Cleveland was nothing to write home about. Small amount of new snow had formed a breakable wind slab up high and it was cold and blowy.

Sand mtn--upper kalum april 31

Guido — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:50:32 GMT

Sand Mtn. April 31 I love years like this one. Spring arrives on paper but is too lethargic to truly spring in reality. Days march on with hours of light lengthening, slowly opening the door of ski touring opportunity to where headlamp night skis are no longer required for evening ski tours. Wide enough to begin a ski tour at noon and have enough time to ski tour almost 7000 vertical feet, much of it dry winter snow, stop to dig four snow pits, have lunch in the sun with boots off, snap off a quick nap, lounge, linger, gaze and loiter in awestruck reverence for the natural beauty, and be back at the truck by 8pm with enough remaining daylight to render unnecessary the use of headlights for the drive home. Damn fine, this spring. Cool day. Dust on softening crust at 2000 feet, juuust soft enough to provide edging on traverses but grippy enough to allow for steep skinning rest stepping for those inclined. Felt like true freezing level was reached at about 4000 feet in the afternoon. Some cloud, some sun, some wind but not much. Ceiling was above the summit when there was cloud around. To the west, Oscar pk. had no clouds. Kinda felt like I wanted to be over there, until I began skiing downhill, then I was quite happy with being here. The lack of cloud on Oscar allowed for a great view of the wide crown of a recent avy on The Big Leblowlski. Appeared to rip wall to wall, east aspect, from 6500 ft potentially to the bottom, 3000 some odd feet later. Crown was clear but thin looking, probably comprised of latest snow snow or in response to a rain event. Debris was not visible/snowed over. Other recent avies included some larger releases on ne high alpine terrain towards mayo creek, appeared to be cornice triggered on steep convex slopes. In the Nass Range, some larger sluffs gathered mass to size 2 in the alpine on steep features and below ridgelines. On Sand mtn, one recent size 2 on a steep north aspect alpine slope before latest new snow, did not travel far but had some mass. Immediately beside it, large cornice chunks freshly fell and tumbled and entrained some snow but did not trigger slab. A lower elevation glide slab falling from el 4500 ft and pulling out large rocks on an ese aspect also failed to trigger slab in snow beneath. Ski cutting small features on the uptrack failed to produce any cracking or whumphs in hst. Recent cool temps with precip brought some significant amounts of new snow. On the south side of the mountain at 4000 feet, 20cms of settled snow, 5200 feet, 45cms. On the north side of the mountain, I found 30 cms at 4000 feet. Skiing quality really was superlative. Dry settled somewhat wind pressed but still soft snow comprised much of the storm snow topped with a 5-10cms of fist-4finger layer. The transition to easy skiing moist snow was felt at about 3700-4000 feet on non solar aspects. Very good corn/moist snow was skied on solar aspects below 4500 feet. Very little sluffing in non solar 45 degree + terrain in alpine, some pinwheeling on steep west facing slopes =

Shames April 28

Guido — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:15:55 GMT

45cms of moist new snow settled to 40 at treeline in just a few hours. Preserved surface hoar layer found 100cms down on the north aspect of 5th knowl today at Shames. Crystals still had striations visible and were standing tall in my pit location. Estimating size to be aout 10-12mm. My baby finger density test guesstimates a 'fist' density at this layer with firm snow layers above and below. Layer was unreactive to compression tests but popped cleanly with spring loaded intensity at 11 of a deep tap test. Also sprung cleanly with repeated shovel shear tests of easy/moderate effort on this 23 degree slope. Other results included a progressive squashing down about 15-20cms of the new snow and a collapse in some fist density wet grains down 60 (?). Recent avy activity in the area showed small surface soft slabs and point releases in response to intense solar bursts throughout afternoon low alpine to below treeline solar aspects. Vis was a bit unclear across the valley but extensive recent activity noted in Bloodlust bowl with what appeared to be cornice fall triggered point releases gathering mass and pulling out slabs lower down at treeline...but hard to see. Appeared to be a large deposit in the Monkey Bowl Basin. Skiing quality treeline and below was barely fair when wedge of doom not building on skis in front of and between knees, and poor with wedge of doom present. Startling amount of snow melt at the base in four hours.

Ski Touring Shames/Dasque Creek/Upper Kalum Valley April 20-23

Guido — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:05:58 GMT

Some observations from the last stint of ski touring during the beautiful bluebird weather window in the past week. Reproduced from memory; sorry if any important details are missing. shames april 20 sunny saturday on the hill. guessing 10cms of moist recent hn at treeline, with cool temps preserving snow stuck to trees at treeline. notable suspect very recent avalanches in north quadrant terrain; one size 2.5 slab avalanche on convex roll on R2SKI2 from 4100 feet and one size 2-2.5 slab on BLOODLUST BOWL at 4300 feet on a steep unsupported feature. considering the depth of crown, speculation is the sliding layer could have been the mar.9 surface hoar. sand mtn. April 21 below treeline: south quadrant terrain from south to southeast aspects featured very good corn from mid morning to late afternoon when refreeze began. snowpack well consolidated with support remaining consistent throughout day even on steep solar aspects. two recent (>week) size 1/1.5 glide slab releases to ground in shallow snowpack on steep rock bulge south aspect evident on an adjacent slope. did not pull slab on homogenous snowpack beneath. treeline: south quadrant terrain featured wind driven winter snow or solid m/f crust that barely softened in the pm to a moist surface. probing in a line about 300 meters long at approx 10m intervals revealed a 1.2--2.75 meter snowpack of fairly consistent density in upper/midpack. my interest was in the basal integrity. probing revealed a variable thickness of basal weakness ranging from approx 30cms in shallow snowpack probe strikes to no weakness in other areas with most probe attempts finding some basal weakness. steep west facing topmost treeline terrain remained cold and fairly firm with also just a hair of sun induced surface softening. No evidence of slab avalanches in visible surrounding terrain at treeline. Very very minimal point release activity in steep solar terrain in various elevation bands. The cold/cool temps and lack of strong solar effect have helped maintain the integrity of the cornices as it was very difficult to find any evidence of fresh or recent activity in the surrounding terrain and valleys. alpine (5500feet): Cold dry loose snow on northwest aspect immediately below ridgecrest where not wind affected by recent west quadrant winds. Most snow either wind pressed into a stiff slab pockets to 20cms deep that was not reactive to skiing or blown clear to previous surfaces which were sunaffected refreeze on steep west facing pitches and chaulky firm wind press on non solar pitches. Whumphing evident in low angle terrain on ridgetop between 5000-5000 feet. Probing revealed a few week layers in upper pack and basal issues in the shallower ridgetop snowpack. Probing on steeper skiable terrain revealed a more cohesive upper pack with still some weakness at base just below ridgetop. Snow pit dug at 5000 feet on a 25 degree ne facing slope in a wind loaded pocket resulted in ctm11 sudden planar down 15cms comprised of a stiff windslab. Snow beneath was very dense (pencil/knife) and was unreactive to ct down to below 1m. No evidence in this location of the mar 9 surface hoar and no previous evidence of any activity on sand mtn on this interface. In this location snowpack >3m hand shear test while ski touring in shallow pockets showed easy results. Ski cutting produced minimal cracking at ski tips but no shooting cracks in isolated non solar unsupported features. Temps remained below freezing and cold gusts of wind from the west froze fingers and cooled toes. Evidence of two recent slab avalanches in latest hst. One size 1 below cornice at 5200 feet on steep north aspect feature and one size 1.5/2 on steep ne feature on oscar peak at approx 6000 feet. Some older cornice chunks visible in various bowls of sand mountain buried by latest hst did not apprear to result in slab avalanches by stimulating previous potential interfaces. Dasque Creek april 22 Exploratory mission from valley bottom up to west facing hanging valley a coupla grand off the deck. Good overnight freeze with slightly softened surface offered great travel conditions for a classic coastal bushwhack exploratory skis off/skis on tour. Devils club, slide alder, cliff bands, frozen vomit avy debris and ski pole ensnarling hemlock little tree tips all conspired to bring some character to the day's tour. Once above the valley shnarb, a nice aesthetic hanging valley was discovered featuring a cirque of grand exposure and 3d relief. With cold temps locking in the snowpack i decided to pave the way to higher ground, continously scanning the overhanging hazards for any anomolous activity. Obs in this basin include a recent widespread moist cycle of point releases gathering mass to size 2ish from all aspects and elevations. Older and somewhat recent glide slabs releases to ground to size 2 in this basin. Recent larger cornice chunks evident but nothing fresh. No slabs evident. Any non solar snow was a rock hard refrozen surface to 3400 feet. Suspect the same to ridgetop based on moist looking debris to high elevations. Probing on a shallow snowpack moraine shoulder from 2900-3400 feet or so revealed a strong upper and midpack with variable depth of basal weakness. Snowpack in fatter zones was greater than lenght of probe >3m so basal weakness not observed. Solar affected snow featured delightful corn with a solid base beneath. The 2000 foot couloir i came to research was not skiable but the great scenic tour and a awesome hero corn turns on low angle terrain made it worth the effort. The ski out to valley bottom was Prince Rupert awesome. Working man's turns for 1300 feet on every character building snow/terrain condition imaginable in a long steep avy path right to the flat of the valley. Produced an uber coastal leg burn and stoke! Clouds moved in in the pm producing greenhouse effect warming. Got a bit hot at valley bottom for the ski out but snowpack remained supportive throughout. Sand mtn. April 23 solid overnight freeze but warmer average temps and more intense solar effect produced more moistening of solar snow surfaces to alpine elevations. Light wind to moderate gusts from the west. Fingers less cold at summit. Fresh evidence of larger point releases on various solar affected aspects in surrounding mountain range but not triggering slabs. Steep east facing terrain featured wet grains on a hard base down 5-7cms that sluffed from ski edge sets on 50 degree terrain. Once the slope angle relented, moist snow was encountered on east facing slopes but even a very slight orientation change to east to north east immediately transitioned the surface to breakable then hard crust, then cold wind pressed hard slab down to treeline elevation. Minimal point release sluffing occurring in mid afternoon on steep south aspect rhimed slopes at 5000+ feet not travelling far. It produced great joy to discover the perfect sweet spot of snow quality from mtn top to valley bottom threading the needle of moist easy skiing surface transitioning to hero corn with either sloppy more grabby snow or hard breakable or hardslab snow just immediately adjacent to the happy zone ski line down the middle. The nice weather combined with sometimes heroic ski conditions, great ski partners and good snow stability were greatly appreciated. It will be interesting to monitor the reactivity of the various pwls (surface hoar layers/crusts/basal weakness) to any prolonged dramatic warming and/or precip loading as time marches on.

Avalanche incident report: Snowspider Mountain

Forecaster — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:36:01 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/ffd70293-f2f5-482e-83da-e0b500acc4ad

Haines Pass 8 to 13 of april

claude — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:09:17 GMT

A warm front brought a bit of new fresh and wet snow and a lot of wind. So we got approx. 20cm of new snow near the Summit, but we also had close to 70km/h of SW wind shifting for SE, temp was close to 0 on monday then dropped to -15c on wednesday.

During and just after the storm, some big natural avalanche happened in different expositions, the entire north face of Three Guardsmen went down producing a good size 3. Then the temperatures dropped and the wind has dried the snow but also has brought a bit od new fresh snow, but forming some new wind slabs, especially in NE and NW.

Ski quality was fair to excellent, depending on the exposition. Ski pen was generally between 0 to 20cm.

More pictures soon there : Haines Pass

Incident report: Caspar Peak

Forecaster — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:20:07 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/6d98070c-c4b8-47e1-a54b-e2ee2696419a

Incident Report: Mount Mackenzie, Revelstoke

Forecaster — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:15:01 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/3b62904b-51a9-472e-bc02-8f1bba4f3868

Incident Report: Tent Ridge - April 7, 2013

Forecaster — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:14:08 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/995a5ccf-92bd-4b1c-8586-52205bce2878

April 3 Feather

JR — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:08 GMT

Skied Feather North Glacier April 3, 2013. 20 cm storm snow in the parking lot on arrival. Partially cloudy, managed to stay in the clear through the day, valley cloud and lights scattered flurries below. Very light southwest winds. Temp was -3 at noon at 1500 m. Most tracks from the weekend were hidden by new snow since Monday. Up on the glacier, ski penetration 20 cm. The top 50 cm of the snow pack is still fairly soft, hard layer probed 60 cm down. Soft wind slab has formed about 15-20 cm thick on north and east aspects. Old debris from small slides on the steep NE aspects of Cleveland and Feather is mostly covered, hard to determine how recent.

Sibola Range, 100km South of Houston,BC

sean f — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:51:41 GMT

Mar 27, 2013 Spent the day sledding through this incredible range. Weather :sunny under high pressure,yet things stayed cool in the Alpine yest, up to +1-+2c. Winds calm. Snowpack: in the area, is highly variable, due to previous winds, and the nature of this terrain scours most of the W aspects. Snowpack in sheltered areas is around 250cm on avg. Shady aspects have dry , windpressed sfcs and loose powder, while anything solar is locked up in a crust. Crust did not appear to breakdown in the Alp yesterday PM. Cornices are large in regularly formed areas. Avalanches: very little activity noted in the area. However, sev cornice failures up to size 2 were observed. 1 size 2 loose wet, from prev day was obseverved on a South asp. This failed initially as a thin point release, pulling a thin slab in a x loaded feature, and entrained snow, running to mid runout. Otherwise, great riding - sled cuts, and slope tests produced no results, while riding in moderate terrain, in deep snowpack areas, avoiding areas of weaker; shallow depths. Sean Fraser ACMG Ski Guide

Incident Report: Yeti Ridge, Lizard Range

Forecaster — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:13:26 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view

Smithers Area Obs, March 25,2013

sean f — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:13:13 GMT

Mar 22: Microwave, 'The Needle', Mt Leach. Skiied into the area from the Denis West Rd. Dug sev hasty pits at Treeline and into the alpine. The Mar 9 surface layer was visible at treeline, down 40 cm giving Hard, resistant shears, and was more sporadic, and isolated in the Alpine. Wind was calm, temps in the -6 range, a scattered sky. No natural activity in surrounding areas, no whoomphs and skicutting rolls produced no results. E and NE aspects had no wind effect. Mar 23: Ski Hill - main noteable obs was lack of wind, and slightly warmer day. Spring solar warming evident. Mar 24: Elliot Ridge: skiied up gladed run to ridgeline - quick hand shear below treeline, found a hard, resistant shear down 30cm on Mar 9 SH. Ski cutting rolls produced no results. No signs of any recent natural avalanche activity, in Elliot or Evelyn drainages, no whoomphs. E aspects had very little wind effect. Warmer day, under overcast sky, +1 at treeline, no wind.

Incident Report: Bonnington Range

Forecaster — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:49:01 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view

Incident report: Callaghan

Forecaster — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:25:41 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/5ad629ec-bd64-4d43-84bf-2e0d4a3c31ed

Incident Reports: Lizard Range - March 23, 2013

Forecaster — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:40:12 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/5255e70f-fc39-420b-b93a-ccfe90174ffa http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/c7652a71-b87c-48af-ab05-12a560bdab4c

Incident Report: Rothel Mtn - March 23, 2013

Forecaster — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:38:50 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/0637c014-5764-4b06-b237-d085f0ec95bc

NEH Heli still reporting Surface hoar concerns

rod gee — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:18:56 GMT

Northern Escapes Heli reporting isolated natural activity on N aspects to size 1.5 on the Mar 18 surface hoar, and whumphing on the Mar 09 surface hoar on regroups but no remote releases on Mar 20th. Surface hoar still present and a concern.

Incident Report - Cariboos: March 17, 2013

Forecaster — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:10:58 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/50c4d2f1-1d83-43e7-8545-8e33f253d8df

Ashman Ridge 17 March 2013

BenH — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:51:32 GMT

Sun Crust and whumping on South Aspects. 30cm Ski Pen. Up to size 2.5 naturals from last storm cycle in North Bowl Area (aka "Deep Freeze" ). Observed size 1 natural from wind loading in North Bowl Area today. Cornices on N aspects looking fat. Mod - Strong winds switching to the North late afternoon. No significant results from ski cutting.

Incident report: Duffey Lake area

Forecaster — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 16:23:57 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/d0f70d71-3347-41dd-9973-3bdf455c6ef4

Avalanche incident: base of Charlton Unwin waterfall

Forecaster — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:02:49 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/62cc5997-832a-4884-ab8a-47b8503cff45

Mushy Shames on the 15th

T-man 2 — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:49:38 GMT

So Temps increased quickly in the am on Frid. to above zero up to at least 4200' (that's about where I stopped). About 40- 50 cm's of recent storm snow settling quickly into soft slab that overlays a crust. Didn't see any new naturals, but visibility was come and go with fog and intermittent snow squals thoughout the day. Did here rumbles from steep terrain from the Valley of Doom areas. First run down off prayer flags was uneventful with powder starting to turn upside down, cool below moist stuck to some folks skins on way up. Second run moved over to Phayzers. Had a couple of whumphs on the flattish bench below the dome at top end of Phayzers, more towards the northbowl side in areas that didn't look wind effected. As we approached the Rock above the MC line, no whumphs were heard. Snow was more moist and cementy on runs rown to the Vee there, with sloughing top snow that didn't move to fast but would entrain the top 10cm's of snow or more that it ran over and could pile up and run long. Watch out for terrain traps. Sloughs would almost look like a slab let go after it ran by but they did not propagate out of their tracks. Tree bombs were big and heavy and made skiing/boarding sporty under the trees. Then over to No Dogs. No cracking from the skins with pen up to lower shin out of old track. 2 small whumphs on flat ridge top, as we approached the the lunch spot above Cats area. No slab releases down main line of no socks adjacent to Iron C run out but sloughing entrained more here on the steep open run and ran a few hundred feet down the slope in a slow motion fashion. Again not propagating out but was like a wave coming down the slope. Made second tracks not much fun if you couldn'g get around the slough run.

Northern Escapes heli Mar 15 report

rod gee — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:30:33 GMT

Northern Escapes Heli-skiing reporting very sensitive skier-triggered, skier-remote and heli-remote soft slabs at all elevations in recent storm snow.

Incident Report: Steep Creek - March 10, 2013

Forecaster — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:26:49 GMT

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/incident-report-database/view/e9ca058d-34b5-4520-82eb-fc106315a7e9