11 Feb 2018

February 11, 2018


    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Skier accidental or ski cut? Spearhead Yesterday.  Some information below.     Micheal Neal Image

    Yesterday, not much activity. Some Sz 1 loose wet Na. Sz 1.5 Sa Sz 2 Sa.

    An avalanche near Golden has injured a snowmobiler. Article below.                           Net Pic


    YESTERDAY:

    Rainbow Saturday morning.

   Some high Cirrus cloud around yesterday afternoon.

    Busy day in the backcountry.

    Another awesome day in the Coast Mountains.

    Conditions are variable with the best snow above 1700 meters.

    High cloud to the South.



    Saturday afternoon.

    Big picture on Saturday.


Weather Observations for February 11, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters   -10, Winds were 20-45 KPH NNE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -9, Winds were   5-15 KPH NNE --Roundhouse
1660 meters   -11, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 282 cm --Pig Alley
  660 meters     -4, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.1, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have clear skies and unlimited visibility. Some valley cloud.


FORECAST:

Arctic high will bring mostly sunny skies to the area in a Northerly flow aloft. The FL will likely climb to 900 meters today, dropping back down to surface tonight.. Monday is also looking sunny with the FL rising to 1100 meters with day time heating. A weak trough will move down the coast on Tuesday with unsettled weather for most of the day with an impulse of precipitation expected Tuesday night. The FL will fluctuate from surface to 1000 meters. Unsettled Wednesday. Weak warm front moving in on Thursday.
Guesstimates: 0 cm by Monday morning, 0 cm by Tuesday morning, 10-15 cm by Wednesday morning but may be less depending on the troughs track.


    GOES IR image this am. 


    Arctic High winning the battle today.

    Arctic Ridge continues to build.

    Arctic Ridge for today.

    Fronts on the coast. Weak cold front moving down west side of Vancouver Island.

    Looking like a nice day on Monday.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Cold temperatures in the valley have got the snow makers busy.


    Wind exposed crust.

    Very busy in the backcountry.

    Cloudier to the South yesterday.

    Best turns are in the higher elevations.

    Surface Hoar is growing.

       Cleaving cornice. They are large.                                                                 Toby Salin Image     



Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Spearhead Glacier East

Anniversary Glacier




From South Coast Touring:

Dale Mikkelsen
February 10 at 7:32pm
Haven't posted here, but have commented in the past. Bumps skiing very well. No significant obs, as everything was fairly well bonded and we stuck to supported terrain. Went as far as Cowboy, Additt, Russet Ridge/Addit Lakes. South aspects were showing pinwheeling (esp. Russet Ridge south aspect cliffs). We avoided cornices with consequence and convexity's and had a great day of skiing in boot top wind transported and fresh snow. 

Even a mid-course correction down Cowboy to avoid "the" convexity, showed no shooting cracks of whoompfs despite obvious wind-loading. We still avoided for good measure. 

That said, Singing Pass sucks hard right now. Rock hard and frozen. If you don't trust your edges or your ability to edge or control your speed, you will not have an enjoyable time. We are both reasonably skilled skiers and still found it hard to have fun. Saw a couple folks who were rather "gripped" about it all. Choose Singing Pass with care and knowledge of your parties compassion for crap.



Mitchell Sulkers posted 3 photos.
10 hrsInstagram

Beautiful day in Marriott Basin today. Some solar effect on steep south facing. A few windslabs to sz1.5 failing near ridgetops in unskiable terrain. 15cm of light facets over mfcr in alpine to 1900m on N asp and higher on S asp sluffing easily on moderately steep terrain. -18C at trailhead this a.m.
On course on spearhead glacier and watched this size 1.5-2 get skier triggered above the col between spearhead glacier and vista bowl. No one caught in it, but it tracked right past a group on the shoulder - moderate avalanche conditions doesn’t mean open season!!!

Skier triggered avalanche yesterday.                                                                Micheal Neal Image

                      Different Angle.                                                     Paul Greenwood Image


ARTICLES:

An avalanche near Golden seriously injures one: Hospital Creek

Special Avalanche Warning in effect: Avalanche Canada

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