Did a tour up Chickadee Valley to Chimney Pass today to get a bird’s eye view of the snow conditions in the area. 15cm of feather light new snow above 2100m with just a touch of wind effect made for good skiing. A light breeze kept the snow cool on E and N aspects, although with the clear skies it was smoking hot on the Chimney Glacier when the wind stopped. After today most solar aspects will have a new sun crust.

We probed between 270-320cm of snow on the Chimney Glacier and the travel to Chimney Pass was straightforward. The descent down the glacier into the Boom Lake valley looked pretty good however there are a lot of crevasses to weave around. Good light and a rope could be a real benefit in there. See the summer glacier photos on the Parks Mountain Safety FB page for more info if needed.

Digging in a thin area just above treeline with 115cm of snow on a South facing moraine showed a weak faceted mid pack with several sun crusts holding the upper snow pack together. It seemed a bit spooky! Areas with a thicker snowpack had fewer concerns. We tried to avoid shallow areas, stayed on planar slopes below 35 degrees and minimized our exposure to cornices and large overhead slopes, especially later in the day as things warmed up.

Numerous point release loose avalanches up to size 2 observed out of steep alpine terrain when the sun was out. No new slab avalanches observed. Plenty of large cornices to keep an eye on but no recent failures observed.

A great day of spring skiing!