I spent the past few day skiing in a number of different drainages in the Central Kootenays. Snow depth varied significantly with elevation (1000-2400m) and ranged from 30-120cm.

Good skiing was found on smooth sheltered slopes above 1700m. There wasn’t enough snow below that to make good turns in most places.

There was widespread wind effect at treeline and in the alpine on W-SE slopes. Significant wind scouring was observed in those area too.

Below 2150m in sheltered areas, surface hoar to 20mm was observed.

Yesterday, steep SSE-SW aspects were either moist or had a 2-3cm P- MFcr. Numerous size 1-1.5 solar induced LW/LD were observed.

Generally, 20-40cm of F -F+ faceting snow overlies Dec 6 MFcr crust complex (8-20cm). This snow has been redistributed by variable winds. Currently, on E through NW aspects in the alpine, this snow was reasonably well bonded to the Dec 6 MFcr. There was some minor sloughing with skier traffic. Probing revealed a significant change in resistance below the Dec 6 MFcr, particularly in thin shallow rocky areas.

At treeline and below in sheltered areas, there has been significant surface hoar development and near surface faceting.

I’ve attached a photo from a hasty profile for snowpack structure and test results.

Lots of early season hazards.

Conor Hurley
www.arctosguides.com