- Submitted by
- coqstoke
- Observations date
- Friday, December 23, 2022 at 21:00
- Location
- 49.345530° N 117.448220° W
- Reporting on
- Snow conditions
%2F-117.44822%2C49.34553%2C8%2C0%2C0%2F1026x200%3Faccess_token%3Dpk.eyJ1IjoiYXZhbGFuY2hlY2FuYWRhIiwiYSI6ImNqd2dvZmUxdzE4ZWg0M2tkaXpuNG95aTQifQ.pBLM87fE3sIxRJqJT7Bf7g&w=1200&q=75 "Bonnington Traverse")
Quick
Avalanche
Snowpack
Weather
Incident
Snow conditions
- Riding quality was:
- Amazing
- Snow conditions were:
- Deep powder
- Wind affected
- We rode:
- Dense trees
- Mellow slopes
- Open trees
- We stayed away from:
- Convex slopes
- Steep slopes
Information
- The day was:
- Cloudy
- Cold
- Stormy
- Windy
- Avalanche conditions
- Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.
Comments
We completed the Bonnington Traverse from Dec. 20-23. The conditions were amazing. We had very cold temps (around -30) and about 40 cm of light powder. On the alpine ridges, we noticed signs of wind effect. There were many wind slabs. We noticed shooting cracks and whumpfing on these wind loaded areas. Below the ridge crest, the snow was stable and we enjoyed good tree and bowl skiing. On Dec 23, it started to snow, leaving about 15cm of snow. This new layer was very reactive and weakly bonded to the existing snowpack. We could trigger storm slabs on convexities below treeline (see picture). Due to the new snow, ridgeline instabilities, and poor visibility, we opted to exit via the Rover Creek FSR. Also, thank you to the group ahead of us who left a faint skin track :)
