Conditions Report: Snow Parade
Conditions in Golden remain quite good for sledders. There’s been a lot of traffic in our zones but there’s also been some snow blow in nicely and more is on its way.
Dec 16: Quartz Creek | Photo: Golden Snowmobile Rentals
We’ve put the tracks on our last cat and if everything goes right, Gorman will get its first grooms of the season this week. Avalanche conditions could be tricky this week and of course, there’s travel advisories out.
COVID Protocol:
Just in case you didn’t know there’s a pandemic happening. The latest orders, restrictions and advisories for Covid 19 are here for both BC and Alberta .
AB: https://www.alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx
The club has posted our COVID protocols here
Please advise yourself and abide by all provincial public health advisories. Sled Golden has a strong contingent of local members and participants and we are focusing on serving them during this time.
Conditions
Approximately 20-30 cms fell this week and the skies were a mixed bag of sun and cloud. Temps have remained cool and somewhat constant and Golden was mostly insulated from the melt freeze that seemed to affect other major riding areas in Interior BC. The winds have enabled what snow did fall to accumulate nicely in the trees. After all the weekend traffic, things have been shockingly good.
Snow and Weather
A series of frontal systems is moving through the province and each one is carrying snow. There’s approximately 40 cms forecasted in the next week. Temps will remain cool and might turn cold by the end of the weekend. Typically Golden plays exceptionally well when the storms go cold when they leave…
Avalanche
A lot of new snow with wind is trending the avalanche conditions higher this week. It’s time to be very aware of rapidly changing conditions.
As always, we ask that you check https://www.avalanche.ca/ for all updated avalanche forecasts.
Are you new to the backcountry?
Check out Avy Savvy, a newly launched program designed to be a precursor to the Avalanche Canada Training program.
Two factors worth noting about mountain safety this year are:
- We are seeing an increase of new backcountry users and many are not experienced in mountain safety. It’s reported some of these people are not willing to learn and are acting dangerously.
- There is a deficit of avalanche input information this year due to the fact that many commercial ski and snowboard operations are not operating due to COVID.
Huge Thanks!
Just wanted to take the time to give a huge thanks to everyone that has been involved with getting us going this year. There’s been a significant effort behind the scenes.
Big shout out to Dan More from Rise above Welding for his preseason welding work. He rebuilt the broken hitch on the Quartz drag and made a custom hitch to accommodate the gooseneck on the BR350 at Silent. This, along with giving us access to his shop has been a huge reason we’ve been able to make our grooming program happen this season.
Thanks to all of our staff as well for adapting to the changing times. Feel free to tell them you appreciate them.
