Conditions Report: Wet and Wild!
Well there sure has been a lot of precipitation in this province lately! We’ve been fairly lucky to not get TOO much rain, but it’s definitely been raining, especially in our parking lots! If you get up high enough, you can get away from the sloppiness, but as of right, it’s quite saturated down low. Our parking lots are a bit mucky and slushy for the time being until it starts to stay below freezing. Thanks for hanging in there with us, we are waiting for those COLD temperatures the Farmers Almanac predicted so we can start enjoying that blower POW again!
With the dangerous avalanche conditions, we’ve been a bit behind on our grooming program, but we should be back at it this weekend if all goes according to plan.
Logging will be starting up at Quartz this week, so the road will be plowed in the very near future. That means we won’t be staging at the Main Lot for approximately 2 weeks. The upper lots (just past the 9km marker) should be plowed and ready to go for Friday morning. For now, stay tuned to Facebook and Instagram and check in with the Gate Staff if you have any questions.
Photo: Zack Pochapsky
Snow and Weather
It’s going to get cold this weekend! What a change of scenery from the warm and wet and windy week we just had. At this point the snow is moist all over, but that is about to change with the plummeting incoming temperatures. Thankfully there’s a bit of fresh snow coming as well which should help spruce up the upper snowpack.
Avalanche
Avalanche.ca is now posting regular updates for the Purcell regions. The avalanche danger is starting to decrease which means we will be able to start grooming the trails again really soon!
Please remember to keep in mind that these are the shortest days of the year and it is dark very early. Plan to be back at the truck long before dark in case of incident! It is always a good idea to travel with an extra puffy jacket, a lighter, saw and headlamp
Please be careful and submit what you see to the MIN Network
Travel
The Kicking Horse Canyon recently updated their calendar for the month of December. Check out the details HERE for up to date information. Closures are limited, so it should be much easier for you all to get here as of TODAY! Overnight closures are happening regularly, so make sure you have a look before you plan your trip.
Safety Courses
If you haven’t signed up for an avalanche course this year, check out one of our partnering companies who would love to get you set up with some education. Trust us, it’s worth it!
Grooming
Quartz and Gorman are now receiving regular grooms and should be back in good shape by Friday night. Thanks for your patience while we waited out the dangerous avalanche conditions the past couple days.
We are planning on getting the cat down to the Silent zone next week which should set us up to open Silent next weekend. Once we get some lower elevation snow back we will be heading in to Old Man as well as giving the West Bench Trail some full grooms for the upcoming Holiday Season.
The map below is linked to the safety InReaches we have in our groomers and we have been able to make the tracks public. How to use the map:
- Press on the + next to the groomer/zone you want the latest information for.
- Once the line is visible, press on the line to see the date & time the groomer was last in action.
This map only shows the most recent groom. You can inquire at any of our trailheads for additional grooming information, including number of riders since the last groom.
Trail Area Conditions Reports
Quartz Creek
Active logging will be happening at Quartz starting this weekend. The road is being plowed on Thursday and we should have the upper lots (at 9k) plowed for Friday morning. Watch social media for updates.
There is room for 50+ trucks up there.
