I spent the last couple of days in the Whistler and Duffy Lake areas with Rupert Davies and Monte Johnson. We were involved with dedicated ski guide training supported by the ACMG’s Brian Ebert Memorial Fund.

We spent March 12th skiing lines through the Musical Bumps and over to the North end Cowboy Ridge. Lots of warm new snow had accumulated, but this was not reactive to us or any natural loading. In an East facing pit at 1820m we found 100cm of snow accumulated over the mid February rain crust. Directly above the crust where rounding pencil hard facets which reacted CTH (irregular), but not to an Extended Colum (ECTN). The March 9 storm snow interface buried 35cm down reacted to CTM (14) Sp. Above this was 4F and F hard snow.

Yesterday, March 13 we skied up Cerise Creek to the Twin One Glacier. We had another day of wet and warm conditions. By the end of the day we saw a few up to Sz 2.5 slabs breaking out of moderate E facing terrain at around 2400m. It looked like the fracture lines where not more than half meter deep and we suspected the March 9 storm snow interface. A pit on a NE facing aspect at 1800m showed CTM (sp) test results down 35cm and Hard (RP and very irregular) test results results down 120cm on a 5cm 2mm rounding facets layer which was sandwiched by ice crust.

Both days had air temperatures barley under 0c and it seemed like the snow pack was really warming and settling. I’m sure that’s continued today!

On The Map

These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.