Conditions Report: DEEP!
It’s a DEEP week in Golden BC for snowmobiling; snow quality and quantity are about as good as it gets! We’ve had 125-150cms of new snow this week in 3 separate storm surges. It’s like we got a reset of every zone 3 times this week! Avalanche conditions are a big concern moving forward and Avalanche.ca has issued a SPAW (special public avalanche warning). Please be cautious and we can’t stress enough how important group dynamics are right now, getting in trouble in the deep snow is a real concern. The snowfall doesn’t look to be done just yet, there’s still 23 cms more in the forecast and temps are turning cooler. Grooming operations are currently on hold due to avalanche hazards (till Monday) and so the trails could get a bit bumpy… The snow up high is worth it.
Deep Daze in Quartz on Feb 29
Epic powder in Quartz on Feb 29
Silent Pass on Feb 26
Lower cutblocks playing nice in Silent on Feb 26
Riley Suhan Race 2024!
And in other big news the Riley Suhan Invitation Race is ON! Mark April 6 on your calendars and sign up soon if you want to guarantee a spot!
Travel
TCH-1 Highway
BIG NEWS! Highway 1 is fully open east of Golden with NO scheduled stoppages and overnight closures.: Kicking Horse Canyon Calendar
Warning! – Just east of Quartz the frost heaves are worse than ever this year. Slow down if you’re hauling weight…
CALL YOUR KMS!. Please note there is a lot of industrial traffic on the Dogtooth FSR this year. Grab a radio and call up on RR27
Snow & Weather
SNOW AND WEATHER
There’s been big weather this week past and it’s not quite done yet either. KHMR is reporting 126cm in last 7 days and our zones get a lot more than that usually. There’s been a lot of wind too which transports snow into some incredibly deep pockets.
It’s literally nipple deep out there right now in a fresh spot. It’s an important week to really take safety seriously. Wearing a radio is pretty much essential.
Getting stuck in waist to nipple deep snow takes a lot of effort. Quartz Feb 29
sunny pow on Feb 26 in Silent Pass.
KHMR Snowforecast on Feb 29
Avalanche Safety
Avalanche Conditions
Check Avalanche.ca everyday you ride!
From Avalache.ca on Feb 29: “Danger avalanche conditions persist. The recent storm snow has buried a touchy weak layer and human triggering remains a serious concern. Conservative decision-making remains critical.”
Travel and Terrain Advice from Feb 29:
- Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don’t let good riding lure you into complacency.
- Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
- Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
- Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to the presence of deeply buried weak layers
Pic of an avalanche debris pile in Lang on Feb 27. This thing ran full path and covered the popular track to the upper bowls…
Grooming
Grooming
Grooming operations are unfortunately on hold due to avalanche conditions. Right now we are red light (no go) in any of the zones until Monday.
Parking lot clearing got done in Quartz and Gorman on Feb 29 and in Silent on Feb 26. The loggers said they were going to plow to the 47km on Today (Thursday) but we haven’t heard as of time of writing this…
Groomer at Quartz on Feb 29
groomer at Silent on Feb 26
Staging Areas Latest Info
Quartz Creek
Silent Pass
parking lot cleared on Feb 26.
