Kootenay Pass

Riding quality was:

Good

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty
• Heavy
• Powder
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Dense trees
• Mellow slopes
• Open trees

We stayed away from:

• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Foggy
• Wet
• Windy

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
• 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.
• Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.
• Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

A classic early season jaunt at Kootenay Pass. We took some core samples of local rocks and in return they sampled the cores of our skis.

Multiple crowns (size 1) were observed in windloaded terrain near ridgetop, seemingly failing mid-storm on the Dec 01 surface hoar. We found this down 15-30 with SH exceeding 20mm in sheltered north-facing terrain. Limited visibility prevented seeing the extent of the natural cycle, but conditions seemed quite touchy anywhere the wind had been, with abundant shooting cracks and whumpfs. Great skiing could be found in small pockets undisturbed by the wind, if you could avoid the obstacles...

Winds at ridgetop were light from the SW with evidence of previous transport. On our final run around 14:30 we experienced the beloved meteorlogical event known as freezing rain, which by the time we reached the highway had formed a 2mm rain crust in open areas. Warming temps at lower elevations were also casuing moist snow in the top 5cm by days end.