Snow Pack Information
Snow Report February 13th, 2012
Despite the drought, the skiing has been good. It has been snowing smaller amounts throughout the last week and we accumulated 8-10cm of fresh in the mountains. The NE aspects have been great quality skiing. The cooling temperatures are breaking down the suncrust that was developing on the south aspects and they are also becoming very skiable. The hazard in the alpine is moderate treeline and below treeline is low. We aren’t expecting any significant snow events for the rest of this week. Wear sunscreen and shades!!
Trophy Mountain snow report – Feb 6, 2012
N & E aspects have great winter powder and the skiing is great.
South slopes are sun affected from the warm spring like weather. They are crusty unless you ski them mid day.
Stability is good right now – moderate hazard in the alpine and low alpine at treeline and below. Temps are dropping a bit and no new snow.
Daytime temps at Trophy Chalet were -5C midday and -10C at on Monday eve with a solid 250cm snowpack.
Snowpack Info Feb 1, 2012
SUMMARY
Alpine – Considerable Avalanche Hazard Areas that were not hammered by wind are good skiing Timberline and Trees- Moderate Avalanche Hazard- The skiing here has been awesome. For more Complete Information Please Read On!
Talked to Trophy group last night and am heading into the mountains today.
The warming trend over the past few days has been good for the stability of the top layers of the snowpack. We had fairly complex layers in the top 70cm of snow last week . A lot of this was caused by high winds that came with the new snow. There was a lot of snow transport. The recent warming trend has helped to settle out the top of the snowpack and bonded up the top layers which were a concern.
Temps have been ranging from -9C at night to -2 in the day. New snow has been in small amounts of 5 – 10cm. The groups in the mountains now report very high quality skiing at tree line and in the trees. Even some more protected areas of the alpine offer good skiing right now. As usual, it is the alpine that gives us concern. Practice safe skiing habits. Do not ski convex rolls. Ski one at a time on open steep slopes. Do not cut underneath open slopes and stay away from wind affected snow in the alpine and on lee slopes. Ski safe and have fun.
Jan 27, 2012-01-27 Trophy Mountain Snow Report Wells Gray Park BC
Summary- Alpine – Stay out. Timber line – Ski in wind protected areas, watch for the the cold weather layer about 50-70-cm down. Trees- Great skiing and good fun!
We are still skiing conservatively and choosing micro terrain features. Lots of trees.
More Detail-
The top 70cm of the snowpack is very complex. The recent storm cycles have come in with a lot of wind. This means that there has been a lot of snow transferred to the lee slopes, and that there is a lot of wind affected snow out there. Hard slab in the alpine and soft slab at timberline- only the protected areas in the trees have escaped the wind. Another thing to keep in mind as you travel in the backcountry is the layer at 50-70cm down which is a very tricky right now. This layer is a result of the very cold spell that we had a couple weeks ago.
Alpine –This has not been a good year for alpine – too much wind and the lee (wind loaded) slopes are very touchy. No reason to be skiing the alpine right now, the skiing is poor and the avalanche hazard is considerable to high.
Timberline (TBL) – The snow in the wind-protected areas is good. Watch the lee slopes for wind pillows and soft slab. Remember that 70 % of all avalanches in the backcountry start on a lee slope- mostly on the wind pillows and soft slab at the top of the runs. These are the areas where people have been seeing problems.
Tree skiing in protected areas has been very good. There is a good firm base with plenty of very light powder on top.
Snow Report Jan 21, 2012 ALERT!!
We just talked to the group at Trophy Chalet. It has snowed 30-40cm over last night and today. Winds have been Moderate to Strong on a SW flow. Temps from -5C to -10C. Stability has deteriorated fast. Wind affected snow is slabbing up and not bonding to the cold snow below. They saw a large natural avalanche in the alpine in steep rocky terrain. Ski cut some small .5 sluffs on lee pillows. Tree sking and areas where the snow has not been wind affected are still good. Time to be conservative and let this cycle settle out – there is more snow and wind to come in the next day or so which will exacerbate the already touchy avalanche situation. Ski the safer terrain and the trees.
Snow Report - Trophy Mountains - Jan 18, 1012
Skied the last 4 days in the Trophies. Weather has been an unusual NW front with temps to -23 C, with slight cloud cover and snowing lightly the whole time. That is light snow - tiny flakes. It is also slow snow, so wax your skis if you are going out so you do not have to ski the steepest terrain just to get moving. We have had about 30 - 40 cm in this last cycle and the skiing has been wonderful on all aspects.
At Trophy Chalet, we have a solid 210cm of snow and on the lee slopes behind the cabin, it is at 240cm and more. Nice coverage and a dense snowpack - one finger and pencil density all the way thru except on the top 25 to 40cm, where it is high quality powder.
Alpine - the alpine is the best that it has been this year. But, it has not been a great alpine year to date. We have 20-40cm of cold snow on wind slab. The skiing has been good on this - watch out for the areas that the new snow is not bonding to the wind slab. This will slide. Ski cut all runs to see what happens.
Tree Line (TBL) and below – there is wonderful skiing and good stability at TBL and in the trees. All aspects are good to great.
NOTE: A major concern is still the buried surface hoar (SH) from Dec. It is not significant in the alpine or on S to W aspects. It is more of a concern at the bottom part of open runs on N to E aspects. This is where the cold air got trapped and the surface hoar and facets stayed intact when they got buried. Be cautious in areas like this - you are just about to finish off a great run and you let your guard down and the last 100 metres has the buried SH layer. Finish your runs well away from slide path.
The near Future – It will very cold for Tu/We/Th and looks to warm up for Friday with new snow for the weekend. This new warmer snow will fall on cold snow and some facets. You will have to be very careful to see if this bonds. What you skied last weekend may not be as safe next weekend. Ski cut all steep slopes – no ski cut = no ski.
Ski safe and have fun. Be prepared for cold weather - balaclavas, extra gloves, thick long johns. Cheers
Snow Report - January 4, 2012
We know it is hard to believe considering the very warm temperatures that we have had in the valley, but the group at Trophy says the skiing is Great. Day time temps at Trophy Chalet are -5C. Atnight it drops to -8C - -10C t. There was 10 cm of fresh on Monday night. The stability has gotten much better - the biggest issue is still the buried surface hoar layer which is buried from 50 - 80 cm down. This layer is not found everywhere. It is hard to find around Trophy Chalet and very easy to see around Discovery Cabin. This is due to the inversion that we experienced near the end of the drought in Dec. Cold air sank to the valley bottoms which preserved the facets and surface hoar. In the alpine and on the S & W aspects, it was much warmer and the facets and surface hoar rounded out.
So, the good news is the tree skiing is great -and -we have lots of tree skiing! The Alpine has not been very good this winter. The storm cycles have come in with lots of wind so there has been a lot of wind slab, sastrugi (deep wind etchings), and a variable snow depths in the alpine
Snow Report – Dec 31, 2011
The pineapple express passed thru the province and affected the snowpack big time warming up the top layers and making it more cohesive The heavy wind slab snow on top of colder snow (facets) caused a lot of avalanche problems across the province. In the Trophy Mountains we had a natural avalanche cycle on the evening of the 29th – there were natural slides on N & E aspect terrain coming off of steep rock slopes and running onto the ski slopes below. The slide layer was down 30 – 40 cm and the size of the avalanches were 1 – 1.5. The peak of the cycle is over and we are on the other side with colder and drier weather coming.
We saw a change last night ( the 30th) – We got 25cm of new snow at -11C. The tree skiing is amazing. It is still a time for caution though as there is still wind slab in the alpine. The alpine snow pack is still thin in many places especially along the ridges and there is still some lingering facets underneath the 60 or 70 cm blanket of snow.
Choose your terrain carefully and be conservative. You see in the news that professionals are getting caught in avalanches. There is a lot of fun skiing to be had in the trees. Play safe.
DEC. 23 The Good, The Bad, & the Ugly
The Bad- The alpine is wind hammered. In places it is like skiing on a cheese grater. The depth of snow runs from the ground to 130 cm in depressions. On the ridge tops the snow is all facets – sugar snow with no bonding strength.
The Ugly- The most recent snow event dumped 50-60 cm on top of some now weak layers. On N&E aspects the fresh snow fell on facets and some surface hoar. The new here should cause concern- ski cut everything and watch for fracture lines running from your skis.
The Good- We saved the best for last! The tree skiing is GREAT especially on S&W slopes. There are many silky smooth turns to be had. The snow is very fast and you can have a lot of fun in low angle terrain.
CONCLUSION
The early winter snowpack tends to be complex and unstable with lots of different layers. Alpine terrain this time of year can be very thin and weak. This year is no different, and may be a bit worse, due to the long dry spells we have had. December and January are rarely the time to ski bigger features. Save that for later in the season. This is the time to ski micro features and the trees. There is wonderful skiing to be had without high risk. Play it safe and let this snowpack settle out and bond later in the season.
December 20
There is 170cm of snow at the Trophy Chalet. The last storm cycle brought 50-60 cm of fresh. It has been windy in the alpine and the new snow there has slabbed up and is not bounding to the previous layers yet. We are hearing a lot of whomphing on the N and NE slopes. It is time to be cautious- the trees are great!
December 10, 2011
In the alpine the snow was wind slab, making the skiing passable only. In the trees, the skiing was much better. The snowpack is generally strong. Tree skiing is good – ski pen is only 10-15cm so fast skiing on low angle slopes. Easy to stay safe and have fun. However, the current surface layers are potential sliding layers. The avalanche conditions will deteriorate with new snow, which we expect this week.
Detailed Information
Trophy Chalet 6800ft S aspect
-HS 130 (windward side of the hills – it is 160 on the NE lee side)
-Strong pack for this time of year – mostly rounds with 1 finger hard to pencil thru the pack – high water content for Dec not a lot of layers for this time of year
-Melt freeze crust down 30cm
-1 finger soft at ground – facets going to rounds
-Only results CH x 2 at 90cm – interface
Thin surface sun crust on full S. Surface Facets and SH found in valley bottoms, flat areas, more on N&E – very little to S & W Got around 10cm last night on top of the F/SH layer in the cold valley. When this layer gets covered up with a good dump – skiers will get some good whoomphing in valley bottom.
Alpine is Styrofoam skiing but coverage is better than expected – over 1 m in lee deposits. Tree skiing is good – ski pen is only 10-15cm so fast skiing on low angle slopes. Easy to stay safe and have fun.