Conditions Report: It’s Deep!
We’re stoked to say it’s deep out there and man does it feel good to hold it wide open. Full-pin therapy is a thing and we’ve had 50-60 cms of fresh pow (at least) in the past week and a full reset over the entire mountain range. We’re finally going to claim that we’re out of the early-season like conditions. If you’re coming here this weekend, dress warm because it’s going to be cold, but along with the temps are the sweet blue skies that can light the way to open bowls. If you ever wanted a recipe for deep cold smoke, this weekend is your time. Avalanche conditions are rated as Moderate for the weekend days. -Keep reading to find out more.
Deep pow on Jan 10 in Quartz
Deep pow on Jan 10 in Quartz
Deep pow on Jan 10 in Quartz
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
Drive Safe
Do us a solid and arrive alive. Check DriveSafe.BC for local conditions.
Not exactly clear roads this week. Jan 9.
Snow & Weather
SNOW AND WEATHER
It’s deep out there and it’s cold. We’ve got a decent base now and the anxiety we’ve had over avoiding all shrubs and stumps is starting to disappear. The joys of the ‘when in doubt – throttle out’ mentality were much needed.
KHMR reported 49cms in the past 7 days but the mountains in our sled zones feel like they got more. There’s not much for more snow in the forecast but there’s a lot of sun instead.
Fact: it’s going to be cold this weekend. So dress warm. The good news is that it’s not going to last that long. By Sunday it’s bearable again.
screen shot of snow and weather forecast near Quartz at mid mountain on Jan 11
Quartz is starting to looked caked on Jan 10
Avalanche Safety
Avalanche Conditions
Check Avalanche.ca everyday you ride!
From Avalache.ca on Jan 11: Watch for thin wind slabs in alpine terrain.
Extreme cold significantly increases the consequences of an incident in the backcountry.
Travel and Terrain Advice from Dec 28:
- Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
- Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
Avalanche.ca screen shot for Purcell mountains on Jan 11
Grooming
Grooming
All 3 trailhead staging areas of Quartz Creek, Gorman Lake and Silent Pass are in working order. Our hard working crew is prepared for the cold weather and have a plan to keep things running.
