Hi all,

We just wrapped up a fun ski touring trip out of Valhalla Lodge from Dec 12-17, 2022. We enjoyed scattered skies, average temperatures, a few flurries, and consistent light to moderate alpine winds from the northwest.

Despite the thin early season snow coverage and faceted snowpack, we managed to find some good skiing in areas with minimal ground roughness. The average snowpack height at treeline was 110cm. The snowpack was quite faceted for an early season snowpack, particularly in shallow rocky areas. Still, ski penetration was in the mid-calf range and generally supportive. The alpine saw a lot of wind affect and scouring on most aspects. Isolated wind slab formation was observed in immediate lee of ridge top features on southerly aspects. A new surface hoar layer with crystals up to 6mm at treeline got buried by a few centimeters of new snow as we left yesterdays. This was associated with a sun crust on isolated steep south aspects at treeline and below. This will be the next layer to watch for.

We didn't see any new avalanche during our stay. There was evidence of a previous cycle with old persistent slabs to size 2 which occurred during the weekend of Dec 10-11. We had very little signs of instability, just a few whumpfs really. The November 16th layer buried 50-60cm below the surface was producing hard sudden shears with compression tests but no propagation with extended column tests. We skied quite conservatively considering the avalanche bulletin and other activity reported in our region. We skied supported terrain up to 37 deg while minimizing exposure to terrain traps. Despite the regional rating being considerable in the alpine and at treeline, it felt like a classic moderate rating for us.

All and all, a great way to start the winter backcountry lodge season. The snowpack in this area is more reminiscent of a Purcell Mountain snowpack. It will be interesting to see how it behaves when we put a typical Selkirk load over top of it.

Be safe & Happy Holidays!

David Lussier
acmg mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com