15 Dec 2011
This picture of the pump house at Horstman Creek was taken this time last year (Dec 15, 2010). |
14 Dec 2011
The grooming yesterday in Lakeside Area provided great skiing with 1 cm of new contributing to soft corduroy. Even a centimetre can help the snow quality. |
Cliff Jennings photo of Mt. Neal on the Duffy lake Road taken yesterdeay. Very large slide with a crown line that is 3 weeks old. We have been in a draught!! |
13 Dec 2011
11 Dec 2011
Hazard Acceptance Risk Tolerance Hazard Analysis Human Factors |
This individual is skiing a south west exposure at the end of the day in a shallow snow pack above a cliff band with no companion. The photographer is a fair distance away, patrol has long gone for the day. This individuals acceptance of exposure to potential hazards is very high.
In my career I have gone to many avalanche incidents where the individual has been badly injured or killed. Ironically most of those individuals had just completed their CAA Level 1 course. The new terminology is very important and everyone should pay attention. Play hard but be safe!!!
10 Dec 2011
Nigel Stewart Photo: Taken up on the ice cap on Thursday December 8, 2011. |
Nigel Stewart photos: Debris from the natural cycle we had November 22, 2011. Certainly tells the story about how much snow we have had in the past 16 days. |
Amanda Taylor Photo: Surface Hoar from the Cerise Creek Trail. The perfect place for surface hoar development, no sun, surface temp -6 and a water source near by. |
8 Dec 2011
Spatial Variability: I tried to look up this definition in the Websters Dictionary sitting on my office bookshelf. Published in 1988... no definition!! Today looking up the same term on Wickapedia: Spatial Variability occurs when a quantity that is measured at different spatial locations exhibits values that differ across the locations. This picture is older than my dictionary, the slope is just above the top station of Jersey Cream chair circa 1982. The road from 7 Th Heaven to the top of JC lift is now here. Who would have thunk! If you look up the definition on the Bilingual site of the CAA it is on page 211, scroll down, Click: Spatial Variability There is much to learn about avalanches and travelling in the back country certainly has its risks. Digging a pit and feeling confident about the slope should be one of many considerations. This definition is important!! |
Jeff van Driel Photo and Observations. A pit displayed on the new App PitPod below: |
The tests performed are the Compression test and the Propagation Saw test (PST) For an explanation of the compression test click here, scroll down: Compression test It will be listed in the glossary. The Propagation saw test is explained in this link: Propagation saw test |
6 Dec 2011
Persistent Weak layers: This picture shows the formation of the December 4, 2007 crust which was very active, went to sleep, woke up went dormant and then woke up again on May 17 th and produced some very large Spring Time Avalanches. The temperatures went to + 17 degrees on that day and there were several large events in the Whistler Area. When this crust formed it rained to 2200 meters, the rain percolated down about 40 centimetres into the new snow and accumulated on a buried surface hoar layer. That winter was a prime example of a snow pack with a Persistent weak Layer. Click here to see the definition of PWL. Persistent weak Layers |
This result occurred 163 days after the formation of the crust. |
5 Dec 2011
4 Dec 2011
Present conditions are ideal to form surface hoar. In the past few weeks there has been much discussion on buried surface hoar layers. Click on this link to understand its formation. Surface Hoar |
3 Dec 2011
For now the snow pack has tightened up and there appears to be significant bridging. The hazard rating is trending to Moderate. Click here for scale.Hazard Rating Read the description carefully. Skiers are unlikely to initiate a large avalanche but a snowmobile still has enough weight to possibly trigger the deep weak layers still present in the snowpack. |