Dec 11, 2023 - Snowpack Update Evening Ridge, WH20 Backcountry

• Date: Dec 11, 2023

• Submission: Michael Wigley, CAA 1/CSGA 1

• Location: Evening Ridge, Whitewater Ski Resort Backcountry

• Aspect: E

• Elevation: 2050m 

• HS: 115 cm

Observations: 

👉 The sun was radiant during the day warming the top 5cm on solar aspects (SE-SW). Which formed a sun crust by later afternoon. 

👉 On the surface of polar aspects (E-NW) overnight growth of Surface Hoar (3mm) was found.

👉 The height of snow was 85cm at 1700m and up to 120cm at 2100m. 

Snow Profile Obs:

I dug a snow profile on an East aspect at 2050m, -2C, at around noon with a snowpack of 115cm. 

👉  Found the Dec 6 rain crust down 45cm and was 5cm thick 

👉  Dec1 surface hoar down 60cm. The surface hoar was still well preserved with an average size of 15mm and getting up to 20mm. 

👉 I had no results on an extended column test. 

👉 With a compression test I had a moderate broken result down 35cm with a change in snow density. Also, I had a hard sudden collapse result down 90cm on rounding facets (1-2mm) above the freezing rain crust we had around Nov12. 

Summary: 

I feel the snowpack is bonding well and the Dec 06 rain crust is bridging the upper snowpack and not seeing results on the Dec 01 surface hoar. 

I will still caution and monitor the Dec 01 surface hoar, it’s still well preserved in the snowpack and large in size. The sudden collapse on the rounded facets is also on the back of my mind. The snowpack has strength but it’s still shallow, finding a weak point on an open slope may produce a significant avalanche. Monitor the Dec 06 rain crust, look for the Dec 01 surface hoar, and keep those weak facet layers near the base of the snowpack in the back of your mind. Early season risks are still out there! Watch for terrain traps, open creeks, and partially buried rocks/stumps. 

Always check Avalanche Canada before heading out into the backcountry!

Snowpack Update Dec 10 2033 - Selkirks, BC

Date: Dec 10, 2023

Submission: Julie-Ann Chapman, CMBGA Level 3, Lead Guide & Owner She Shreds Adventures

Location: Meadow Mountain, Selkirks

Aspect: W-SW

Elevation: 2300 m

HS: 100 cm

We sledded around lots of different aspects and elevations playing Russian Roulette today in the 110cm snow depth between 2000-2300m. The melt freeze crust was about 7cm thick at 2000m and 3cm thick at 2230m. It posed as a sneaky ski grabber which resulted in a couple endo's and ski bushing replacements. Didn't see any signs of instability while out hooning but did see some old debris from the melt freeze cycle on a very steep slope.

Dug a pitty at 2230m on a W-SW aspect. 30cm of new storm snow is bonding very nicely to the Dec 6 melt freeze crust (which is about 3cm thick at this elevation). Getting hard results on the Dec 1 surface hoar layer with a sudden collapse down 60cm. Bottom 20cm are unconsolidated facets.

See Full MIN report on Avalanche Canada

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Snowpack Update Dec 7 2023

Surface Hoar

Whumpf/Cracking

90 CM at 1750M

Hello everyone, Judson here to provide you with a silver lining update! 

After the somber mood and disappointment from yesterday, I want to share some silver linings regarding the current state of our mountains and snowpack. I understand that Wishy's SOTS yesterday and Rebeckah's update were a letdown. I thank them for delivering the truth. Sometimes it is hard to take, but I do believe that things change from day to day and today was a much better scene than I anticipated. 

Curiosity got the best of me today, or perhaps I did not have anything else to do (LOL). I went for a tour with KBG guide Kyle Gorenko toward White Queen from Hummingbird.

Firstly, this atmospheric river was unprecedented, as far as I know. I have never seen a storm deliver that much rain in this region since I moved here 25 years ago. That's not to say it has never happened, just not in my experience. 2021 was close, but the difference was the freezing level in 2021 was at 1800m. We just witnessed freezing levels above the mountain tops.

😀I am pleased to report what found I view as good news! I won’t sugarcoat things, but I view my tour today as being very positive. 

Speaking of positives, let’s start there.

SNOWPACK DEPTHS

I was pleasantly surprised by what I found today. The rain turned to snow last night and delivered 20cm of dry snow. The rain did not wash away all the accumulated snow thus far. In fact, above 1750m, I found more snow than before the rain. Below 1700m, not so much. 

• Hummingbird parking = 50cm

• 1750m = 90cm  

• 1950m = 90-110cm

The coverage from what I saw above me looked decent, considering the circumstances.

⚠️Of course, the lower your elevation, the worse it gets. Skiing in the forest, especially below 1750m, is treacherous.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY

We did not see much due to clouds, but there was some avalanche activity in 5 Mile and Ymir. The activity was limited to loose wet avalanches up to size 2 out of steeper than 40-degree terrain. It wouldn't surprise me if there were slab activities once the skies cleared.

LAYERS

• Early December surface hoar, up to 20mm in size, appears undisturbed despite the rain. It is found down 35-40cm. It's very obvious where present. 

• The entire snowpack was rain-soaked except for the top 20cm. It was like skiing on powder sitting on spring melt freeze.

• We felt many whumpfs and saw cracking under our skis. 

• Other than the December surface hoar, there is not much to see—mostly moist snow with a couple of crusts that will likely become one layer when it dries out.

• I assume there are some wind slabs in the Lee slopes from southerly winds; we did not see any in our travels. 

CHALLENGES

Creeks: The creeks are raging and open. Avoid them until we get more snow, and it freezes up.

Low Snowpack: Especially below 1700m and in the forest, rocks, stumps, randomly riding into an alder patch—all the normal early-season cautions are in play.

OUTLOOK

What does this all mean? I have never seen an event like this. I don't know if it will crust up, or how hard the crust will be, and I don't know if the surface hoar will bond in the moist snow. We do our best to forecast, but there are so many factors at play. Temperature, snowfall amounts, and wind will play a role moving forward.

CONCLUSIONS

Patience is key here. I think that if we get a good dump of snow before Christmas (30-50 cm) there will be excellent conditions.

Judson Wright
Lead Guide/Owner
Kootenay Backcountry Guides

Be sure to always check Avalanche Canada before heading out into the backcountry!

State of The Snowpack Update Feb 15 2023

Date: Feb 15 2023
Location: West Arm Provincial Park
Elevation/Aspect: 2000m/East

We would like to start with an apology to our community. We have been absent from our social media as we were very busy in the background working and guiding out of our zone. The weather is providing great travel conditions but remain cautious around older wind slabs that could be sitting on weaker snow. Also pay attention to how the sun might be affecting south aspects at lower elevations. Travel and Terrain Advice Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features. Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

Always check Avalanche Canada before heading out into the backcountry! https://avalanche.ca/en/map

Not sure what to do? Where to go? Hire a certified guide or take an AST course from a certified Avalanche Canada Practitioner. https://kootenaybackcountryguides.com/

State of The Snowpack Update Jan 19 2023

Jan 20, 2023 WHITEWATER SKI RESORT
Kutetl, Whitewater Ski Resort Backcountry
Aspect: East
Elevation 2140m

FAT & LOW ANGLE

That's probably going to be the theme for the season. We are avoiding shallow snowpacks, especially those over rocky/unsupported terrain, where these layers are closer to the surface and easier to trigger. There is still good riding out there in low-angle terrain! It looks like hopefully some more fresh snow in the forecast.

#KNOWBEFOREYOUGO

Visit the Avalanche Canada website before heading to the backcountry. https://avalanche.ca/en/map
Be sure to also read the Forecasters Blog for more details about the snowpack and observations in the mountains: https://avalanche.ca/blogs
Explore Avalanche Canada's Trip Planner tool for planning a safe backcountry tour: https://avalanche.ca/planning/trip-pl...

LIVE State of the Snowpack - Dec 20, 2022

The State of the Snowpack is a free monthly speaker series, led by local snow science experts, who break down and share as-local-as-it-gets analysis of what they are seeing in our Kootenay snowpack, so that we can all make our most-informed decisions in the backcountry.

State of the Snowpack Update - Nov 30 2022

Date: November 30th, 2022
Where: Sliver King Ridge
Aspect + Elevation: North/2000m

Today we found excellent skiing on low angle smooth slopes with true Kootenay Cold Smoke coming down. We went for a tour to the top of Silverking Ridge. The snowpack depth was highly variable depending on aspect and elevation. We found as little as 20cm on windward south aspects at ridgetop and as much as 175cm in wind-loaded lee aspects at ridgetop. The snowpack averages 110cm in non wind affected terrain at TL. We dug a profile at 2000m in a wind-loaded location on N aspect near the top of Silver King Ridge. The snowpack was 160cm in this location. We did compression tests and found a layer of surface hoar that reacted easily and suddenly down 40cm. The November 27th surface hoar was found down 75cm and had a moderate sudden collapse result on it. The surface hoar was 5-10mm in size and was 5cm above the November 5th crust which has 1-2mm facets sitting on it. We don't really have a handle on the distribution of this layer at the moment due to a lack of field observations.

Please add MIN reports if you find relevant observations that you think will benefit other ski tourers.

Whitewater will be closing the parking and terrain at the resort from December 2-8th, please respect all closures so they can prepare for the opening weekend. They will have heavy equipment machines running, so please read the signs and let them work so we can all go shred pow next weekend!

State Of The Snowpack Update - Nov 26 2022

Date: November 26, 2022
Where: Whitewater Ski Resort Backcountry
Aspect + Elevation: South/1800m

This is an update to our Nov 24 snowpack update and wanted to highlight some exciting results we noticed. First Day of an AST-1 course. Good news/bad news: the riding was half decent but, unfortunately, there's up to 20mm surface hoar buried down 27cm, which lays on top of a crust. Uncertain about the presence of the weak layer at higher elevations.

We did an extended column test that resulted in differences from the north aspect. The surface hoar we noticed was 20mm (2 cm) in size! This surface hoar is sitting directly on the early November crust. It is down anywhere 25-30 cm. We then performed an extended column test it failed on the fifth tap.
As this next storm comes in we need to be on the lookout for those steep and smooth slopes. During this next storm cycle, let's stick to lower-angled terrain.

The key takeaway from this snowpack is to take it easy. Even though it is early season these crust/surface hoar layers will be able to produce avalanches in specific areas (steep, open, and smooth terrain at treeline and above). The forecast calls for significant snowfall this week, which could cause reactions on these two layers. Let's play it safe while early-season hazards exist, remember, we've got the entire season ahead of us to get after it!

If you are going to the Whiteware area please note there are still a significant amount of trees down in some areas from a wind event in early November and some are buried just below the surface.

READ THE FULL MIN REPORT AT AVALANCHE CANADA

State Of The Snowpack Update Nov 22 2022

Date: November 24, 2022
Where: Whitewater Ski Resort Backcountry
Aspect + Elevation: NW/1980m

GOOD NEWS! The snowpack is building and backcountry skiers have been out skiing powder in areas of smooth ground cover. We are at a normal season average for snowpack depth between 70-100cm at Treeline.

There are two notable layers buried in the snowpack, which we will be monitoring for the next while. The first is a large surface hoar layer that formed during the cold clear days in mid-November. The surface hoar is about 10mm-15mm (1cm-1.5cm) and is buried 15-25cm below the most recent storm.

10cm below the surface hoar is a crust that formed in early November during a warm spell. This layer is about 1cm thick and very hard. The good news is that it has provided us with a more solid base that allows for decent travel and ski conditions. The not-so-good news is there is a faceted layer on top of the crust.

Both the surface hoar layer and the crust layer will be capable of producing avalanches in areas where there is enough snow on top of them to slide.

The key takeaway from this snowpack is to take it easy. Even though it is early season these crust/surface hoar layers will be able to produce avalanches in specific areas (steep, open and smooth terrain at treeline and above). The forecast is calling for more snow this weekend, which could cause reactions on these two layers. Let’s play it safe while early-season hazards exist, remember, we’ve got the entire season ahead of us to get after it!

If you are going to the Whitewater area please note there are still a significant amount of trees down in some areas from a wind event in early November and some are buried just below the surface.