February 19, 2014

    Not much time for photos yesterday, big winds, fresh snow made for a busy morning.

    Some mornings ski cutting (Sc) is very satisfying, other times not so much!!

Winds today were the main reason for delays, avalanche control work was going well, but reloading was happening very quickly, obey the signs, stay out of closures, we are trying hard to make your skiing experience awesome. You mess the flow up and you will pay in the end!!  On 7 Th Heaven this morning winds were blowing 110 KPH. Above is the wind speed on Glacier Express.

    When signs are ignored, it can require a lot of manpower to remedy the situation.

    Two individuals had to be lowered through this terrain yesterday. Not Skiable!!

    Last night in the Town Centre. Bring it on!!

Weather observations for February 19, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters     -13, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the SSW
2180 meters     -12, Winds were 40-50 KPH from the WNW ?
1860 meters     -12, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the S
1835 meters     -11, Winds were 25-40 KPH from the SSW
1650 meters       -9, 11 cm of new snow, Base 230 cm, 29 cm in 24 hours
1550 meters       -8, 7 cm of new snow, Base 182 cm
  660 meters       -2, Valley Temp, 16 mm of precip yesterday

For the forecast the intense front from yesterday finally passed with some great results, 23 cm recorded at 1550 meters yesterday afternoon, 27 cm in 24 hours. Onshore flow will continue with snow flurries into  today. A weaker front will arrive this evening into Thursday with a moist/cold Northwest flow. Unsettled conditions will prevail Friday into early next week. Expect sunny periods for the weekend, starts off unsettled, sun Saturday afternoon , unsettled Sunday morning giving way to sun on Sunday afternoon. Monday as of now looks mostly sunny. More on that tomorrow. Guesstimates: 10-15 cm by Thursday morning, 1-3 cm by Friday morning, 1-3 cm by Saturday morning.


Avalanche control yesterday produced size 1-2 avalanches. In the corridor there were up to size 3 natural avalanches reported on Monday.

    Should get another 10 cm of snow overnight.

   

Not the biggest front but certainly encompassing our area.

    Very juicy clouds were on the way for yesterday afternoon. 3-4 cm per hour at times.



9 Killed in Western U.S. snow slides in February: CCTV News

Avalanche Airbags: Your Guide to these Life Savers: Article by Kieran Lee
These are not life jackets, Not sure about 97 % survival rate???

Beehive Basin Avalanche Investigation; video of location: Montana

Persistent Sketch; The Art of Backcountry in a Continental Snowpack: Powder Magazine

Avalanche Closes the Coquihalla Highway overnight: Feb. 18, 2014

Avalanche Claims Snowmobiler's Life: Near Jackson Hole

These pictures show how treacherous Area Highways were: British Columbia

Skier triggers avalanche on Castle Mountain: Alberta

    Wind blowing snow off the trees, Tuesday February 18, 2014.

    Weather plot at Nester's Road looking snowy!! Yesterday evening.

    Power Flurry during rescue on Pillow Bitter yesterday.