Conditions Report: Deep and Sketchy

SNOW AND WEATHER

Golden had approximately half a metre of snow in the last week, which has made things a lot better for riding. The conditions are pretty good as long as you stay in the main areas but if you cut anything off the beaten path, it can still be really rocky and there’s still lots of stumps around.

The temps seem to be cooling for the week coming up so that should stabilize the snow a bit.

Avalanche

This week there is a SPAW out from Avalanche.ca for our area. Please make sure you check  Avalanche.ca  everyday you ride.

“The recent storm and subsequent weather conditions have destabilized a weak snowpack.

A prolonged cold and dry start to the winter created a number of persistent weak layers in the snowpack across the interior ranges of BC. The recent storm and warming temperatures have now destabilized that weak snowpack, making large, human-triggered avalanches likely.

The storm cycles that hit western Canada over the past weekend added significant snow on top of an exceptionally weak lower snowpack. This has brought the conditions to a tipping point where dangerous avalanches are likely.

While avalanche danger ratings may start to decrease as the weather improves, there will still be a chance of triggering a large avalanche.

Making conservative terrain choices can help manage this risk. Sticking to lower angle slopes and choosing smaller objectives that minimize the consequences of an avalanche are examples of how to reduce the risk. ”

Grooming

Grooming operations for all 3 staging areas Quartz, Gorman and Silent are in full swing for the Holiday season. Grooms are scheduled as needed. The DFD mobile warming cabin has been placed in Gorman on Dec 8.

We’re going to try to get Oldman and East Quartz done next week.