Hi all,

We spent last week-end in the Huckleberry hut area of the Bonnington Range about 18km South of Nelson BC.

We "skied" North and East facing treeline terrain between 2000m and 1700m near Cabin peak and Midday peak. The area received 40-60cm of recent storm snow with mild temperatures and light winds. This storm snow sits on top of a 5-10cm softer facet layer which overlies the November 5th crust. This crust is very close to the ground and could not be detected below 1600m. This indicates that it may have completely melted below that elevation in the Bonnington range. Height of snow at the hut (1600m) was 60cm and about 80cm at treeline.

We did not see any signs of instability or avalanches. Other than the early seasons hazards, our main concern was the storm snow overlying the November 5th interface. Snowpack tests gave moderate to hard broken sheers on this interface over the weekend. It appear that the storm snow was not consolidated enough to react as a slab in this area last weekend, this is surely going to change with the incoming weather.

Nice to get out for a walk and get the trail-breaking muscles tuned up!

David Lussier
acmg mountain guide
summitmountainguides.com