I did a short day tour around Hero Knob today. Our intention was to do a high traverse into Black Prince, but the snow conditions being what they were we decided to keep things simple after making a half hearted zag in that direction.

Generally the snowpack is pretty much fuddle duddled from below treeline, where it's faceted and super thin, to the alpine where it's wind blasted (often down to the Hallowe'en crust), sun and temperature crusted, and/or nuked by avalanche debris -- on the north side of the peak west of Hero Knob in Murray Creek there's the aftermath of a size 4 avalanche that sweeps down into the lower reaches of the normal north facing Hero Knob run, pretty impressive. I'm guessing from a couple of weeks ago when it was warm and rainy.

Still, as they say there's no such thing as bad snow and it was a lovely day to be in the mountains. It's not every winter day you have zero concerns about snowpack stability and can just enjoy the traveling.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
Mountain Guide ACMG/IFMGA
Guided Heli-accessed Ski Touring Lodges and Avalanche Skill (AST) Courses - www.sawback.com/current-trips/