West Nile and Little Crowfoot
On Thursday some friends and I headed up to West Nile for a few turns in the trees. We found great snow and although some old tracks were visible they were easily avoidable. Due to the warm weather leading up to Thursday we found the river and tributary creeks more open than the previous week (in fact, the place where my friends safely crossed the river the week before is now fully open moving water) but still easily crossable in spots.
Looking up deciding where to ski and admiring the Grand Daddy Couloir
Skinning up through the trees
Small, but humorous, creek crossing at the end of the day
On the same day my partner headed up Little Crowfoot Peak and noted the following conditions.
Snow/ Travel Conditions: 10-20 cm ski penetration made for good ski quality with some wind effect in the alpine creating a denser slab layer, but still skiied well. There was 130-180 cms of snow on the Ferris glacier (small glacier near the summit of Little Crowfoot). The canyon leading in to Bow hut is in good early season shape, but you need to take your skis off for one small rock step on the way up (this can be avoided on the way down). We skiied around Bow Lake as the ice was slushy in spots and still looked a little thin to cross.
Avalanche Conditions: We noticed a few avalanches that had occurred in the past few days. A size 2 on the NE aspect of Vulture peak, and a size 3 on the Bow headwall (likely serac triggered) had run in the last 3-4 days. Also, we noticed a cross loaded gully on the N aspect of Crowfoot peak at treeline had released within the last 2 days. See photo below. The upper snowpack felt quite well settled with no obvious layers noted from pole probing and ski cutting. We didn't dig down for the November 6th crust, but stuck to supported, smaller terrain features.
Weather: Overcast and light snow with occasional breaks, light winds and temps in the -10 to -15 range.
Overall, way less wind effect than in this area at this time last year.
A cross loaded gully on the N aspect of Crowfoot peak at treeline. Released within the last 2 days.