Attachment 503929
May as well get this started. Early season wiggling is on in the Rossland Range.
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Attachment 503929
May as well get this started. Early season wiggling is on in the Rossland Range.
FKNA let’s get this party started.
Nice. I came to see if anyone had got this year's thread started.
Standard early season snow, will probably be a drought 'til December now, but it sure looks pretty!
I’ll be doing weekly conditions updates about what’s happening in the backcountry of the Powder Highway
Yesterday in the Goat Range—it’s still early:
Attachment 504169
Thk you Arctos! I will definitely be following. Appreciate it!
Went to the gorge yesterday. Was a mix of rain/snow at 15km (1500m). At around 1700m things got better and the snow and coverage improved substantially. About 120cm at 1900m. Good to get out!
Attachment 504487
Red is getting shat on right now and this whole week, anyone got words of an early opening potential?
Not likely, Red needs a whack
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Sun Peaks has delayed opening day from Nov. 16 to Nov. 23 due to mild weather but it is cold enough to make snow mid mountain and there are currently a ton of youth race teams here doing race training on OSV and Lower Chute.
Heading to Monashee pow tomorrow morning for the weekend with the sled. Looking really deep there! :the_finge
Attachment 504925
Here’s a quick synopsis of what’s going on the Powder Highway
Thanks for the updates!
Joined the hordes at Whitewater today. Skied 3 different lines in Ymir bowl, great early season coverage, supportive stable snowpack, easy shallow powder skiing.
We're the lift spinning and more importantly, was the restaurant open?
WW/Nelson is a really nice place!
No, and no. But the parking lot was full, and people seemed stoked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shredhead
Mona pow was insanely good. About 150cm just below treeline.
Nice. Finally, a decent start to the season.
Haven’t been able to get out into the big mountains, but things are looking pretty nice locally. Three top to bottom runs at Gem lake, Big white, and not a scratch on the skis. Nice supportive base and boot top powder on top of that.
Attachment 505279
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Yes A!!!! Maybe some filled in trees in the valley bottom in McPherson and Mica!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by alive
Silver Star and Big White both opening early this weekend. Making up for last year. Anti Jinx.
Went for a night tour last week. Surprising amount of snow already in the Rossland Range!
Hi trying to figure out If I can swing a surprise trip with the kids to Revelstoke for opening weekend, would be flying in from east coast. Does anyone feel comfortable speculating on what will be open this weekend?
You should go for it. I'd bet everything off the Stoke and Ripper is good to go. Probably still downloading from Gondi Top. Line up EARLY on Saturday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shu Shu
Looks pretty damn good:Quote:
Originally Posted by Shu Shu
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCuUd...VjcTV2ZjRqeWJq
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Thanks guys, unfortunately the proposal didn't get past the CFO or Board of Directors. We will make the best of WROD next weekend. Looks like it will be a helluva of day though. Consolation prize is we'll be out there in March.
Early season and especially start of the season out of town ski trips are rarely worth the cost of getting and staying there. I usually wait until January for ski trips.
Full Update Here
Ski conditions have been fantastic lately—the snowpack has continued to settle and the temperatures have remained cool over the past week. Rogers Pass has received incremental loading and the Kootenays have received less snow under broken to overcast skies which preserved the surface conditions and settled the snowpack. There have been reports of surface hoar development in the past couple of days and near surface faceting, so take a minute to dig after the arrival of the new snow this week.
The height of snow is ranging from 1.2- nearly 2m in from 1700 and above. Below 1700m the HS tapers quickly with elevation. Rogers Pass is still showing only 32cm at the RPDC. Kootenay Pass has 102cm at 1780m. The big change over the past week has been the settlement of the snowpack, the 50-60cm ski penetration of the mid-November have been replaced by 10-20cm ski penetrations more recently. This means we’re no longer plunging deep into the snowpack with every turn.
https://www.powderhighwaybackcountry.../IMG_4570.jpegWhile it seems like it‘s game on for ski season, early season conditions persist. logs, creeks and rocks are still thinly veiled and there is variable distribution in the alpine—particularly in windy areas. In the alpine in the Valhallas there is wide spread wind effect, which has scoured surfaces and loaded others.
Snowpack
Currently there is not much going on, there’s the Nov 7 MFcr down about 70cm and the Nov 16 SH down about 50-60cm with variable size and distribution. The Nov 16 SH is producing hard sudden planar test results. There are also wind slabs in immediate lee features. On steep south aspects below 2200m a 1cm 1F MFcr was observed yesterday, however it didn’t exist on SE or SW aspects.
https://www.powderhighwaybackcountry.../IMG_4590.jpegOutlook
https://www.powderhighwaybackcountry...IMG_4604-1.pngThe blocking ridge of high pressure will persist for a couple more days until a low will push through beginning Wednesday. There is the possibility for Above Freezing Levels in the alpine today and tomorrow in the South Columbias, so pay attention to the temperatures if you're out in the alpine. Check out Avalanche Canada’s Mountain Weather Forecast.
After weeks of incredible coverage and dreamy skiing quality in the local mountains, Red’s opening of a couple of the lower lifts this past weekend corresponded with howling winds and freezing rain to the top. Gnarly driving conditions, long lines, and terrible visibility dampened spirits somewhat, but the skiing by feel on the groomers was manageable. Colder temps, better (but still compromised) visibility, short lines and 7cm of new snow for Sunday improved things considerably, and once the new snow got skied into the old surface even the off piste was skiing well. The other 90% of the skiing terrain isn’t opening until next weekend, and backcountry conditions will be variable crusts and windfuck until we get some new snow, so lapping groomers and bumps on Red it is. At least we’re open.
Not a bad day in fernie, a bit warm, sticky snow.
https://youtu.be/GrIrAExIyic?feature=shared
Full (all lifts and terrain) opening at Red today, 20cm of new snow, exceptional early season coverage, and moderate crowds. Good times.
35cm at Silver Star and it pounded all morning. 7 pow laps before 10am. So good.
What's the word on dirtbag winter van camping around Red? Any off the radar sno-parks? Got a whole crew (6 adults, 2 kids, 3 dogs, all in 3 vans) coming up Mid-Jan and having trouble finding places to stay. Red Barn Lodge is where we've stayed before but they're booked out for the whole winter already. We're mildly successful 40ish year olds but are dirtbag skiiers, surfers, and mountain bikers at heart so open to any suggestions.
Does Red not allow camping in its lots anymore? Last time we were there they had a designated lot for overnight camping.Quote:
Originally Posted by Falcon3
Yup, lots of vans in the parking lot. I think they may charge and have a limit on nights spent, but I don't know the details.
https://www.redresort.com/getting-he...rnight-parking
Season’s passes are still reasonable, but otherwise Red’s gouging for everything these days. All F&B up 35% from last year.
I'm going to be in Nelson for Christmas week (arriving Tuesday) if anyone wants to meet up and ski. Will be skiing ww & red and will have touring gear. Shoot me a message!
Interesting MIN reports from the RMR sidecountry. Skier triggered debris running close to the Greeley Bowl boundary fence and what must have been a very rough ride after a cornice failure above Highway Bowl.
https://avalanche.ca/mountain-inform...d-0a58a9feac02
https://avalanche.ca/mountain-inform...d-0a58a9feac02
https://avalanche.ca/mountain-inform...d-0a58a9feac02
What a week. Constant top ups on an exceptional early season base and zero crowds making for more fresh lines than could possibly be skied. Life has been a glorious blur of snow blowing, powder skiing, and bleary eyed socializing. Merry Xmas to you all.