We spent the day in the Illecilliweat drainage yesterday. Valley bottom travel via the Meeting of the Waters trail up to the base of the Illecilliweat Glacier was reasonable with interludes of bushwhacking and posed some creek crossing challenges.

The snow pack was faceted and thin, ~90cm HS with ~ 40cm ski penetration below 2000m. Coverage on the Illecilliweat Glacier and moraines in areas we travelled ranged from 40-90cm. There was lots of exposed ice and the crevasses were thinly bridged.

Our Perley Rock descent route skied well, albeit thin and “sharky”. Buckle + deep facets made for some silky turns. Ski penetration increased between 1850m and 1650m, and the November 19 surface hoar was reactive to skier traffic with lots of small pillows popping off underfoot.

The valley bottom exit is still a bit physical and expect a few alder encounters.