Location:
Spearhead Range and Joffre Lakes PP.
Weather:
Over the 8 days of the exam we saw generally above average temperatures, with a short bout of cooler temperatures and light precipitation. It snowed 3-10cm in the Joffre area and about 10-15cm in the Whistler area between the 4th and 5th before warming up again. Alpine temperatures over the last three days have been about 3 to 7 degrees above freezing at ridge top.
Snowpack:
There is a supportive crust in open areas in above 1300m to ridge top on all aspects. At 2200m on in flat areas and northerly aspects the top 50-70cm under the crust is moist, but dry and well settled below that. The crust has been breaking down with daytime warming, especially at lower elevations. There is little recovery in the trees where it is isothermal to ground.
South aspects were producing size 1-2.5 avalanches during the warmest part of the day and isolated icefall events and glide crack releases were noted toward the end of the week.
Skiing:
Toward the end of the week the corn skiing was good on all aspects in the alpine except true north. Although protected north did soften it still has some surface roughness due to the winds during the last snowfall event. In many areas there are water runnels below 2100m and the snow below 2000m gets very punchy with minimal solar input.
Hazards:
Our main concern during the week was cornice hazard, and we gave all cornices a wide berth. Over the course of the week we saw fewer and fewer cornice failures, but they still look large and intimidating in many areas.
Another concern was the fall hazard on icy surfaces early in the day. If you are camping in the hills plan on a long breakfast and/or bring crampons.
While some of the crevasses are starting to sag with the warm temperatures we consistently probed over 300cm of snow, except in a few exceptionally windy zones.
A final note:
Don’t let your guard down, keep an eye out. Just because there are tracks over a crevasse or people having lunch at the bottom of a steep slope don’t assume it is completely safe.
Cheers,
Conny Amelunxen
MG
