Alberta/BC stoke & conditions

Drail

Drail

Active member
It does make sense for us to copy tgr with the regional threads I think. If not just for those around the area, but for outsiders to keep tabs on what's been going on weather/snowpack wise in the area if they come out late in the season and have no idea. I also figure, since we are a smaller population than tgr, we might as well group western Canada into one thread.

On that note: so far, everyone is off to a slow start with plenty of layers to keep an eye on. I think we are all optimistic for the season though because the base that is there up high is coastal all the way to alberta. I have a felling we are going to see some chutes that aren't usually filled become good to go after a few more weather systems.

I'm gonna be holding it down in the nelson/rossland area most of the winter with a trip up to rogers pass for split fest, gonna hit up Cain for their festival in early February. let's get together and go for some turns. I know kootenay pass and the rossland range like the back of my hand so if you're around i'll gladly act as tour guide.
 
I'm at home in Kettle Falls for a few days. I flew in from Utah last night. How are things looking in Rossland through the 31st? I've heard it's bleak but I'm stuck here anyway. Thanks
 
13277491:Skibumsmith said:
I'm at home in Kettle Falls for a few days. I flew in from Utah last night. How are things looking in Rossland through the 31st? I've heard it's bleak but I'm stuck here anyway. Thanks
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Rossland Range is doing a lot better now than it was a week ago. We've been mostly in the Murphy basin doing laps on Elgood South. North and East aspects a little spooky right now due to a nasty rain crust/surface hoar combo close to a meter below a storm slab. avalanche.ca is talking all about it right now. Also, the snowpack below 1800M starts to get pretty thin. Red Mountain has Motherload open and while I myself haven't been skiing at the resort, reports I've heard is that the top of the runs are skiing decent enough, but once you start to get lower down things start to get interesting. Proper tree runs aren't properly filled in yet so keep to open areas where you can.

It's currently snowing out and should be till tomorrow evening. I'm gonna be up at Kootenay Pass Monday - Wednesday. Sun is supposed to be out, but the sketchy snowpack might limit what we can get done out there.

speaking of Kettle Falls - you ever do any touring up at Sherman Pass? Been wanting to check that place out for a while now.
 
Nice, thanks for the info. Sounds like we'll be up there tomorrow. We may just be resort riding if the whole family is going.

I have never skied Sherman Pass. I didn't get a touring setup until I moved to Utah. I've heard mixed reviews. I don't think you get a very long descent for the amount of work you put in but I've heard it's decently fun.
 
Headed to Bow Summit on Monday, haven't skied it before, so I'm looking forward to this trip.

Anyone been up Hwy 93 this season?

I'll probably be hitting up Mt. Whymper a bunch this season, but am also keen on exploring some areas around Storm Mountain.
 
I am gonna try and hit the Coquihalla a bunch this season and if snow even comes to the coastal mountains like Cypress, Seymour, etc... I will be there too.

Anyone else Coastal?
 
13279505:Blunto said:
I am gonna try and hit the Coquihalla a bunch this season and if snow even comes to the coastal mountains like Cypress, Seymour, etc... I will be there too.

Anyone else Coastal?
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Coastal checking in. Hows the skiing around the Coq? looks pretty epic but I've never gotten around there.
 
13279595:Cufe. said:
Coastal checking in. Hows the skiing around the Coq? looks pretty epic but I've never gotten around there.
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Pretty good actually when the snow is right... a lot of pretty mellow day tours and also some bigger more exposed lines that are better kept for the spring but Zoa ridge and Thar peak are both pretty rad area's
 
13277884:rudager said:
Headed to Bow Summit on Monday, haven't skied it before, so I'm looking forward to this trip.

Anyone been up Hwy 93 this season?

I'll probably be hitting up Mt. Whymper a bunch this season, but am also keen on exploring some areas around Storm Mountain.
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Let us know what Bow looks like. Easy proxy for the area. At least it should be pretty empty on Monday.
 
13280376:J.D. said:
Let us know what Bow looks like. Easy proxy for the area. At least it should be pretty empty on Monday.
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Besides it being cold as duck yesterday. It's pretty good.

we dug a pit, incredibly solid mid layer pack, so we're looking at pretty good stability.

Soft snow, but still a lot of exposure as you go higher on the Bow Summit side.

I'm interested in checking out Observation Peak in the next few weeks here.
 
That's good to hear, I might head up there just to go for a walk at some point.
 
Its hard to have good regional with a small population, as this part of the site grows it will be cool to see how the regional break down.

Maybe separating out costal vs. continental vs. interior would be beneficial, due to the variances in weather and snow pack ... Then again, that may be a bit much for now ;)

The Monashees are interesting right now. The problematic ice layer is every were, but reacting very differently on some aspects and elevations. This is problematic, as it makes forecasting very difficult. I have dug a few pits, and was unable to obtain a planar sheer on this layer, in the terrain I selected. Yet, in the same range, 60-80cm slabs are popping...from What I have read on the CAC website, its a similar problem for all of the interior.

The goods are out there. Do your science and shred safe
 
Revelstoke skiing well. Skied the Fannngers before the storm rolled in. The alder is started to get knocked down and there's a bit more room to play. Toured up to the upper shoots ( the had cleaned them selves out ) and skied from the bottom of them. 10cm ski pen, no SH even though it was cold as balls, light wind. This storm rolled in and dropped 20 friday, puking now, so things should be pretty fresh.

View attachment 745965

Looking for touring partners always. have sled.
 
View attachment 747094View attachment 747093

i feel like that video was inappropriate now that no one laughed or anything... lol

Okay so i was going to start an interior conditions thread but i think our little community is small enough at this point.

Here are some photos from last night at the Fingers. Lots of whumpfing, anything convex we could remote trigger for about 3-5 meters away. Remoted a whole creek bed. Heads up hockey
 
Checking in From Golden. Spend a lot of time at Kicking horse and rogers pass. Have a sled but already had some issues with it and really can't be fucked to waste time working on sled when I could be skiing, next high pressure i'll have something to do though.

Kicking horse conditions are a mixed bag, spent some time in KH slack country after xmas, skied a few different chutes on ozone and rudis and found good stability and decent snow for the most part, Christmas chute on ozone sucked though but it wasnt bad. As soon as you dip below treeline things get spooky. super easy triggers and rather large slabs(which are now buried under another foot/foot and a half of snow)

Hit up Rogers Run in Rogers pass on sunday, It had been skied a fair bit but all the good pillows and cliffs had fresh landings didn't really matter if you hucked to steep or flat. Didn't notice any signs of instability below treeline, even when skiing more untouched areas, pillow remained supportive even after landing on them and had hardly any sluffing even in steeper terrain. I would expect things have changed dramatically since the new load but its really weird out there. One slope can give you amazing confidence where-as just around the corner you could find a lingering pocket thats still unstable and get hit. Play safe out there folks.
 
How are things doing at rogers after this weeks snowfall / warm up? Crew of us are thinking/wanting to come up for splitfest but we sure are apprehensive. The snow down here is sloppy poop since it warmed up yesterday. Gonna go build a booster today - haven't done that in years - due to lack of a better option.
 
Well last day i was there was Sunday the 4th. Ski quality was great and super fun on Rogers run(grizzly Shoulder) today and yesterday things have been warming up but as of 7am all the weather stations are still reporting in the below zero range, it's a definite inversion as rogers pass 1300m is reporting -8 and hermit 1950 is reporting -1. Heres to hoping they don't climb much higher. I should be heading up that way tomorrow or the next to see whats up. Will post back.
 
Three days ago kicking Horse slack country was great. Skied a few laps in canyon creek. Snow was fantastic, a good number of tracks though. Skin tracks were plentiful. Some pillows were popping 20cm down with no propagation.

Rudis north looks loaded and dope. Be wary of pockets popping but it will be dreamy.
 
I'm heading out to Fairy Meadow on Saturday for a week. Anyone here part of the other group of 12?

Drail, I'll be in Red working the Jr comp. I want to ski a couple of days afterwards. 25-26 of jan.
 
13288675:hemlockjibber8 said:
I'm heading out to Fairy Meadow on Saturday for a week. Anyone here part of the other group of 12?

Drail, I'll be in Red working the Jr comp. I want to ski a couple of days afterwards. 25-26 of jan.
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I was hoping to be at Red for a bit of the Jr comp as well, but I'm busy getting married on the 25th, and will most likely be quite hungover and not wanting to ski on the 26th. What you doing at the comp though? If you have any free time we could/should sneak over to Robbie for a quick lap or two.
 
Congratulations man! Enjoy your weekend. I'm judging the Jr comps so I will be pretty busy from the 22-24. 21 I'm driving out and inspection and the 25 is a weather day. I could hang around a few days later too. I'm trying to ski a different resort each week with each comp.
 
Anybody been out to Wells Grey area, specifically Trophy Mountain? Heading to the Discovery hut for 5 days with school on tuesday
 
13288611:Drail said:
How are things doing at rogers after this weeks snowfall / warm up? Crew of us are thinking/wanting to come up for splitfest but we sure are apprehensive. The snow down here is sloppy poop since it warmed up yesterday. Gonna go build a booster today - haven't done that in years - due to lack of a better option.
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Conditions are variable, but from last three days, if you stick to lower elevation east facing terrain its fucking blower and so fun. Had a great day today, was going to go hit the loop brook pillows but a crew of like 20whistlerites had smashed the easy lazy day ones anyways. Went in a bit further and skied a really nice tree spine with a couple mellow hits down it and then a nice pillow line. Good snow

two days ago on Rogers Run rogers pass, sun crust up high. Still ski able but not really great hucking your meat conditions at least for me. Once you got down 100m or so it was blower again and super fun.

Stab wise only been treeline and below, and mostly below treeline. No noticeable instability lately, no whumphs jumping on pillows yields no results. was skiing in moderately steep terrain today and encountered no sluffing.
 
So in early February I'm gonna be driving up the Icefields Parkway with my lady friend and wanna do a quick lap or two on the way up. Never skied there before, but I guess Bow Summit and Parker Ridge would be the go to spots for quick easy access to nice non committing terrain (she's intermediate so steep trees and cliffy/complex terrain is out).

Am I right to assume Bow Summit and Parker Ridge? Which has more bang for it's buck for open fall line? Which typically has better snow quality or are they pretty similar?
 
13293317:Drail said:
So in early February I'm gonna be driving up the Icefields Parkway with my lady friend and wanna do a quick lap or two on the way up. Never skied there before, but I guess Bow Summit and Parker Ridge would be the go to spots for quick easy access to nice non committing terrain (she's intermediate so steep trees and cliffy/complex terrain is out).

Am I right to assume Bow Summit and Parker Ridge? Which has more bang for it's buck for open fall line? Which typically has better snow quality or are they pretty similar?
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You're in the right for those areas. I can't say I know the most about the area, since I've only done Bow Summit once, but for more area and fallline, check out Observation Peak, right across from Bow Summit, tons of lines to look at.

anyone know how the current Rogers pass conditions are? I heard there was a slide in the trees recently
 
13293660:rudager said:
You're in the right for those areas. I can't say I know the most about the area, since I've only done Bow Summit once, but for more area and fallline, check out Observation Peak, right across from Bow Summit, tons of lines to look at.

anyone know how the current Rogers pass conditions are? I heard there was a slide in the trees recently
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Slide was on the 4th in teddy bear and there was a parks photo posted that had a slide in some pretty dense trees. Things at treeline in Revelstoke have a pretty dense layer of snow and even a temp crust in some places. should be intesting
 
The teddy bear trees slide is one of those situations that shouldn't of happened. I've been in a very similar situation in the exact same area two years ago (luckily we were the ones punching the track in and noticed a serious drop in stability once we started gaining ridge and stopped) When you get out of the mature timber there during a storm things get real touchy due to cross loading.

I was up there when it was dumping hard and there was a very noticeable drop in stability once you got anywhere near the top. I mean - frequent flyer is right there and it's named that for a reason.

I guess though - if you don't step off the skin track every now and than you'll miss certain warning signs, which the group admitted themselves that their mistake was following the previous party somewhat blindly.

The take home is that you should always ale your own decisions and always be on point and critical when out during heavy loading periods.
 
Some shots from the past month or two.

Booting up a couloir on 93N:

10714171_971490212861737_2664446420935005407_o.jpg


About to drop in on another:

10847864_10152418368080957_8756931058364406446_n.jpg


Another one in K Country:

1545851_10152535006103182_844684961553852802_n.jpg
 
Took down a big one today748348.jpeg

Prominent spiney flutey one in the middle. Was ok. Would rather ski the line in better conditions allowing it to be skied really freeride style but hey it was nice go get out for a walk!
 
13296010:ShredMasterPlus said:
Took down a big one todayView attachment 748348

Prominent spiney flutey one in the middle. Was ok. Would rather ski the line in better conditions allowing it to be skied really freeride style but hey it was nice go get out for a walk!
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Nice. That's the ridge past Mollars yeah? Or am I way off?
 
13296010:ShredMasterPlus said:
Took down a big one todayView attachment 748348

Prominent spiney flutey one in the middle. Was ok. Would rather ski the line in better conditions allowing it to be skied really freeride style but hey it was nice go get out for a walk!
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Ridiculous. Those are a long-term goal of mine but my skill set is no where near ready for that.

Unrelated, anyone up for some easy walking in the Fernie area? I haven't been out much this year and would be down to go for a poke around.
 
Im looking for some touring friends in the interior. I'm based out of apex but I do trips to revy and kootneys. Apex slackcountry is pretty bad right now after that big dump it got super warm and theres a serious crust layer, snow in the forecast for the next few days.
 
Heyo,

Haven't done much in terms of touring this year, and there are a few things I'd like to do on my off time while in the city.

Looking to tackle some couloirs this season. It's on a bucket list of mine.

With that being said, I'd like to join somebody/have someone join me on taking some down. Looking in the Kananaskis region or up 93South. Spotted a few while I was up at Bow Summit earlier this month, but none really look ready just yet.

So if anybody knows of them, lemme know.
 
13293317:Drail said:
So in early February I'm gonna be driving up the Icefields Parkway with my lady friend and wanna do a quick lap or two on the way up. Never skied there before, but I guess Bow Summit and Parker Ridge would be the go to spots for quick easy access to nice non committing terrain (she's intermediate so steep trees and cliffy/complex terrain is out).

Am I right to assume Bow Summit and Parker Ridge? Which has more bang for it's buck for open fall line? Which typically has better snow quality or are they pretty similar?
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I've only skied each one once. Parker's Ridge is really lame and only a good place to go to because it gets snow very early and holds it. It's got super short vertical too. I would never consider driving there in the winter. It's quite a long drive as well.
 
13300301:rudager said:
Heyo,

Haven't done much in terms of touring this year, and there are a few things I'd like to do on my off time while in the city.

Looking to tackle some couloirs this season. It's on a bucket list of mine.

With that being said, I'd like to join somebody/have someone join me on taking some down. Looking in the Kananaskis region or up 93South. Spotted a few while I was up at Bow Summit earlier this month, but none really look ready just yet.

So if anybody knows of them, lemme know.
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I'm always game for couloirs, bagged a few already this season but lots more on the to do list.
 
13302161:hemlockjibber8 said:
I've only skied each one once. Parker's Ridge is really lame and only a good place to go to because it gets snow very early and holds it. It's got super short vertical too. I would never consider driving there in the winter. It's quite a long drive as well.
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I think you missed the part where I'm a) driving up i jasper so location on the parkway in relation to anywhere is irrelevant. B) with the wife who is intermediate and not in the best shape so I'm lpoking for somewhere that is close to the highway, quick laps on easy open terrain.

We we have a bit of a time constraint and I'm looking for somewhere to get the legs moving, a nice view, and get a few turns in.

ive been up Parker ridge in the summer and the view over the backside is pretty good for how quick you gain the ridge. To get a good view down on the glaciers down at bow summit will take a bit more climbing I think.

This is is all assuming it's good vis. Could be white out conditions and it'll take all day to just drive the damn road. Does it close often for weather/avy hazard?
 
Sorry, I didn't realize you were going all the way up the parkway. I thought you were just going to cruise it to find a place to ski. Considering that, Parker's could be decent. I seem to remember the backside being a bit more serious. It was really early season and there was little snow so I wasn't really considering it anyways.

The parkway doesn't close a ton. The weather could definitely be shitty though. If you have to get to Jasper and the road is closed I think you can cruise pretty easily from cochrane up.

Bow summit has lots of low angle tree/fan skiing too.
 
I'm heading down to Rossland tomorrow. Will be working the Jr comp until satudary and then am looking for some good conditions. Red, whitewater, schweitzer, touring. Whats the vibe down there? Still crusty?
 
13302844:hemlockjibber8 said:
I'm heading down to Rossland tomorrow. Will be working the Jr comp until satudary and then am looking for some good conditions. Red, whitewater, schweitzer, touring. Whats the vibe down there? Still crusty?
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Was skiing red in a proper pow day two days ago and word is yesterday was fantastic as well. Heading up to kootenay pass as we speak to see how stability is. 40cm of storm snow on top of a surface hoar/crust combo with the mid December layer down another 80-100cm below that. Hoping there is some sluffing and that's it but yesterday my friend was getting spider cracks and small fracture lines in the storm snow. High pressure sitting over us till the weekend. If things get stable enough the skiing should be awesome for the upcoming days/week.

Rossland range has has been touchy all year while the nelson range (wh20 and k pass) have been more predictable.
 
How's the snow been up there so far this year?

Just found out I may get to on a cat trip around Fernie in March
 
13299654:SLEEVES said:
Im looking for some touring friends in the interior. I'm based out of apex but I do trips to revy and kootneys. Apex slackcountry is pretty bad right now after that big dump it got super warm and theres a serious crust layer, snow in the forecast for the next few days.
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Hey I ski apex too. Pm me if your interested.I moved to pen two years ago and Im always looking for people to ski with.
 
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