21 Dec 2012

Skiing in deep fist snow will collapse as you are skiing it.  Yesterday at one blown in location there was one meter of ski penetration in fist snow. This week is certainly becoming one of the epic weeks for December skiing in this area!!

At 2260 meters the temperature was -13, winds were 15-35 KPH from the ESE. At 1650 meters the temperature was -9, 14 cm of new snow was recorded there over night. In the valley it was -4.
Yesterday the early snow measurement was not taken properly, thus the 50 cm. There was only 30 cm of new snow yesterday morning. Sorry for the confusion. Most of the snow recorded this am came between 14:30-18:00 yesterday. The winter solstice was officially at 03:12 PST this morning.

The largest results from explosive testing were 1.5 soft slabs up to .50-1.0  meters deep on mostly Westerly slopes. Did have this crown happen on a North East slope on a large wind rib with a steep entrance. There was a combination of size 1 loose to soft slabs on most aspects on steep terrain yesterday.


For the forecast we can expect unsettled conditions for the next while with snow most days. Not sure if we will see the sun today but there is a possibility for tomorrow morning. A cold upper low spins off the coast giving us a moist and unstable airmass. A brief ridge will build for Monday but is short lived.
Here are the quesstimates for the next few days: Today 2-4 cm, Saturday 4-6 later in the day with 10-15 cm possible early Sunday morning, Sunday 4-8 cm Early Monday morning 4-6, 1-2 during the day and 5-10 for Christmas Day.





Family rescued from Revelstoke Ski Area: Overnight Experience

Trans Canada Highway closed due to Avalanche Risk: December 20, 2012

Historical Avalanche Data reveals trends in deadly slides: Bozeman Daily

Another avalanche fatality in Western Austria:  Mountaineering


Interesting that 1 of the most recent avalanche deaths in Europe involved a skier that had deployed her air bag.  Swedish skier in Verbier 23 year old female.






From Jerome David, snow is an amazing part of nature!
Great Big ball of snowfall drooping off only a 10 x 20cm perch at the house. Pretty amazing stickiness in the snow.
Tensile strength of snow if searched on the internet  is a serious topic among snow scientists, here is just one example: Amazing Properties

At around 16:15 yesterday the sky's cleared and the moon was bright.






If you are coming back into the ski area after operating hours from a ski tour please be aware that winch cats will be working and you do not want to run into a cable. Signs are put out with a strobe on top of them to warn people of this operation. Below is a picture of one of the signs.