Good storm skiing at Kootenay Pass today Feb 4th.

We skied North & South aspects in simple to challenging terrain on Ripple Ridge & Lightning Strike. We avoided exposure to overhead hazard and had a fun day while skiing moderately steep & supported glades. Skiing was surprisingly fast with good to excellent quality. Visibility was very limited but we did not see any new avalanches nor did we experience any signs of instability. Winds were light to moderate from the West but only seem to affect ridge top locations. It was mild out today with temperatures ranging between 0C and -3C.

We did a quick test profile at 2090m on NE aspect in the Lightning Strike Northeast zone. Snowpack depth was 350cm here and our pit 150cm deep. All shears were resistant in character. We found an easy shear down 20cm on the storm interface, a moderate shear down 45cm on the previous storm interface and a hard shear down 70cm. We also found a very hard resistant shear down 135cm on the January 16th interface with decomposing surface hoar to 6mm.

The Kootenay Boundary snowpack is deep and somewhat complex this year. Despite the low confidence & high avalanche hazard, it was possible to ski safely by choosing the right terrain.

David Lussier
mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com