Sean Fraser and I just finish guiding a week at Bernie Glacier Chalet in the southern section of the northwest inland region of the coast mountains Feb 23 to Mar 2.

We skied between 2150m and 950m on all aspects generally looking for supported terrain with deeper snowpack characteristics while minimizing/eliminating overhead exposure. We did a few alpine tours however, we spent most of our time in sheltered treeline and below treeline glades. The weather was generally stormy and consistently windy with steady daytime temperatures in the -10C range at treeline. A series of low pressures from the northwest brought up to 60cm of low density storm snow at treeline. The ongoing storms and associated moderate to strong winds prevented us from exploring the abundant alpine terrain most of the week. The height of snow at the lodge was 200cm and about 325cm at treeline.

God to excellent “cold smoke” skiing could be found in protected glades at treeline and below however, the alpine got hit pretty hard and wind affected surfaces with upside-down ski conditions were found later in the week. On the avalanche front, we did not see any new persistent slab releases during our stay. That said visibility was limited. We saw many wind slab releases in steep loaded terrain ranging from size 1 to 2 throughout the storm cycle. In sheltered areas, skier-controlled sloughing was becoming a concern on Feb 28th as storm snow amounts reached critical mass. This subsided by the end of the week and the storm snow was gaining cohesion. Minor cracking was observed while skiing but no whumpfing. We rated the hazard as 3-3-2 by the end of the week and the trend was an improving one.

All in all, a fantastic ski touring week with a really amazing group and outstanding location!

Cheers,

David Lussier
mountain guide
summitmountainguides.com