Whitewater backcountry Nov. 19
We headed out to enjoy the sunshine on this beauty high pressure day and check out local snow conditions.
I saw tracks in the Prospector shafts, West Ymir and Goat Slide but nothing else in the main Ymir Bowl and only 2 tracks into Five Mile.
There was 15-20cm of dry powder over a 3mm rain crust in sheltered areas. In exposed areas at treeline and above, previous winds had either stiffened this snow into slabs or scoured it down to the crust. The slabs were small but reactive and a snowboarder kicked off a small size 1 on the Goat Slide Path.
Snow depths ranged from ~70cm at the parking lot to 100cm at our high point of 2200m (where the rain crust got weaker). One drift was up to 180cm!
Travel was quite reasonable with a base that carried well except for the odd moat around thinly buried rocks and trees. Good skiing could be found with a keen eye, but expect variable conditions and watch for the thinly buried hazards. We were able to keep our bases intact though.
We did see a "Sun Pillar" caused by "diamond dust" – very cool.
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Cheers,
Shaun King ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide
Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction
http://www.mountainsense.ca +1-250-505-5139