Mountain Addicts – AST 2 McDermott Hut, Dec 27-30th, 2020

Mountain Addicts just completed an AST 2 course based out of the McDermott Hut in the McDermott basin South of Fernie. Over the three days of the course we had overcast skies and cool temperatures between -7 and -9°C. It started snowing on the 30th with 2cms of accumulation along with variable South to North winds gusting to strong.
We found excellent skiing on all aspects in open glades below ridgetop (2000m) with 20cm of low density snow over soft surfaces. We skied steep supported features and avoided lee features at ridgetop due to recent wind loading. We did not see any recent avalanche activity although there was evidence of a widespread avalanche cycle to size 3 from the Dec 21st snow storm failing on the Dec 8 melt/freeze crust. We stayed away from large convex open slopes that did not have evidence of previous avalanche activity.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2021!

Corin Lohmann
ACMG Ski Guide
CAA Professional Member