Some good intel from Rogers and the Asulkan Valley - looks like it is time for a road trip.
Spent the day travelling to Sapphire Col & back from the Asulkan Valley.
bluebird skies with a wisp of high cloud as weather patterns adjust today. in the later afternoon we could see some darker cloud to the North as some Coastal moisture moved thru, but no precip was observed. winds calm throughout the day and temps zipped around from -22 at the trailhead in the morning, to -7 up at Sapphire col in the mid afternoon.
snpk had 20-30cm of blower HST over a firm & settled midpack. in exposed areas above treeline there was a 5-10mm windpress crust on top, but it didn't hinder the good skiing at all. it appeared that this was formed from downflow winds in localized areas. there were surface facets & surface hoar, up to 10mm in size, in the more sheltered areas, tho it was hard to find in the exposed high alpine areas - anything above 2300m. looking across the valley to South & West aspects, large windloaded rolls (both horizontal & vertical crossloaded slopes) were quite visible.
we had an easy shear at the base of the HST in sheltered areas at & below treeline - easy to ski cut on any steep, unsupported rolls. it didn't act as a slab & stopped quickly when the angle leaned back. we also encountered some small surface sloughing near valley bottom elevations. no large recent (past 24 hrs) avalanches were noted, but there were a number of smaller ones (to size 1.5) that ran from steep, rocky areas. some may have run today with the warming temperatures & sunshine, others in the last 24 hrs - most likely from the same triggers.
we gave large overhead hazards (big slopes & cornices) a healthy margin, but felt quite confident on smaller rolls & planar slopes.
coverage on the Asulkan glacier on the regular route up to the col appeared quite healthy. slots in the usual places on the steeper aspects climber's left of the ascent route above the small icefall. the usual large holes NE of Castor & Leda still very much there.
the new snow is fun but slow, so wax your ride before you set out. we didn't and elevated the art of 'back seat driving' to a new standard!
dave healey / asg
