Great ski conditions today in Divide Creek. 10-20 cm of storm snow from Monday night increased to 30- 40 cm in the alpine. Temperatures have been cool, with dry snow on north aspects down to valley bottom (1600m) in the morning, rising to ~1800m by noon. All aspects other than due north/ northeast had a surface crust from Tuesday April 25th. Winds have been light, and there was little to no wind effect in the new snow. We saw evidence of small loose dry avalanches out of steep terrain to size 1.5, but no slabs. Lots of evidence of the large avalanche cycle that happened there in mid March.

Coverage was better than either of us had seen in that valley, with no bare ice on the glacier and many normally rocky areas covered. That being said, we probed variable snow depths on the glacier from 120 to 300+, possibly due to the large avalanches in March having scrubbed out the snowpack in the thin areas.

Our primary concerns were limiting our exposure to overhead hazards, especially if a cornice trigger was possible. The clouds rolled in late in the morning, limiting solar warming.

Enjoy the great skiing and good coverage this year!

Ian Jackson and Steve Holeczi
ACMG Mountain Guides
Visitor Safety - Banff, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks