I was out with my ski buddy Giacomo the last couple of day in Rogers Pass post storm and warming (Jan.20-21/2017). Temps have cooled dramatically since the warm-up on Wednesday and Thursday and the most recent 20cms of storm snow is definitely fluffy side up ;-)

In both drainages there were several old avalanche deposits from during the height of the storm up to size 2.5, though some of the usual performers in Connaught Ck. did not run during the storm (notably Frequent Flyer and STS aka Cheops 4) - there were a couple of loose avalanche in steep solar terrain that looked more recent, but other than that there was no recent activity observed.

The upper snowpack appears well bonded with generally 20-30cms of loose surface snow overlying a much stiffer layer that was formed by both the wind and warm temps that occurred during the storm. There are some shears within this stiffer storm snow but they were not reactive to our skis.

None the less we avoided steep tensioned (convex) features of consequence - such as the Certain Death Roll on the Dome glacier - because I felt it worthy to give this slab a bit more time to bond.

Of note it is quite weak around any rocky features and we did have one whumpf while navigating a lower angled bouldery slope - indicative of all the faceting around shallow rocky terrain as a result of our long lasting Arctic outbreaks - so something to keep in mind when choosing your terrain.

Lots of people out and about and tracks are starting to accumulate - I only heard one report of poor ski quality from a group that had headed up the Illicillawaet glacier area and ran into touchy windslabs :-(

Ski you later,
Scott Davis - ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide