Northern BC 2013/2014 Stoke, Conditions

[Angle Parking]

The reset button (to the minor, bit not insignificant tune of 4-10cm) has been pressed nearly everyday this week at HBM. Best hill day of the year today, and not a soul anywhere. I think people are staying away as a consequence of the t-bar being down. HBM says it will be fixed for the weekend. EMore snow to come. Looks like we might finish the season with a bang and be set up nicely for May / June turns. Life is grand in the north.

[Angle Parking]

Snow keeps coming at Hudson Bay Mountain. Best conditions of the year. And it's staying cold too. Things are looking up for a long season.

[LeeLau]

Shames got sweet fuk all out of the last dump. Little drips and draps. Good conditions though at the Cat ski op at Skeena Cat Ski at Hazelton

Some pics of the lodge which the Coast Mountain Culture editor wrote about as a plywood shack. Guess he never did get in the habit of taking notes and actually getting his facts right

Suskwa Lodge




This is about 1/5th of the tenure.




Snowed about 10cms of light blower before we got there and was sunny half the day. Will get the other shots up in a bit

[jeffro83]

i'd call it a plywood shack...if it meant i could tell others the same thing, so they might avoid it; leaving it all to myself

[XXX-er]

Snow keeps coming at Hudson Bay Mountain. Best conditions of the year. And it's staying cold too. Things are looking up for a long season.

yup it was warm all season when it is usually cold, now when it should be warming up its cold, dribs and drabs every day this week always under 10 which add up but aren't enough for the powder hounds to book off so its pretty much all mine, in fact yesturday I was the only bar customer apres ski ... they sold 1 beer

edit: oh yeah a couple of aviys localy, one hurt knee at the "reality check" ice climb, 2 skiers and a dog hit out at silver king

The climber & 2 skiers are OK, unfortunately Achilles the husky did not come home ... RIP

be careful out there

[LeeLau]

There were naturals on all aspect further out west from you guys. Also some action going on at Hankin. Your snowpack is touchy

[XXX-er]

I was just talking to a bud in the food checkout, they were at east boulder creek on the weekend, just walking on a ridge a settlement and then a crack running a very long way to trigger a sluff in a gully

so it was safe to ski right

[Schemeboat]

Northern comrads I have a question.

We will be working out of Dease next week. How's conditions up north of the Stikine?

[XXX-er]

Who knows? It should probably be warmer for this time of year but it has cooled down around here so its -10 at the hill right now

a week or so ago when some folks got rained out up in ninginsaw

[LeeLau]

yah check with MOT around Bob Quinn and they'll have a better idea

[XXX-er]

Also try Last frontier heli ski they are out of bell2

[Schemeboat]

we talked to PWH at the airstrip, they were saying fast conditions. Warm days, cold nights. Rained out in the Iskut? bummer. Can't say I would have expected that.

I'll check in at bob quinn.

We will be passing through smithers on monday and tuesday, then a few days later if anybody wants to get out for a shred.

Thanks!

[XXX-er]

If you are flying into or staying in Smithers the Storks nest is the center of BC skiing and the most likeley spot to get local info & possibly hooked up for a ski , includes free breakfast cookd by Brian the Hankin guy and local skiers are dropping in for coffee all the time

[Schemeboat]

Excellent. Thanks for the tip.

We're driving so we could get a day in at Hankin on the way.

[XXX-er]

Not sure whats up next week myself but Brian has to cook sunday & monday, if you call ahead he might wana go skiing tues and i often tag along

[Angle Parking]

Shames got sweet fuk all out of the last dump. Little drips and draps. Good conditions though at the Cat ski op at Skeena Cat Ski at Hazelton

Some pics of the lodge which the Coast Mountain Culture editor wrote about as a plywood shack. Guess he never did get in the habit of taking notes and actually getting his facts

Really dig their terrain. Been a few times and I've always enjoyed myself. Awesome snow every time I've gone out. This is the first year since they opened that I haven't made it out. I was scheduled to go in Jan. but they called us and cancelled due to the fact the conditions sucked. I thought that was pretty cool. They could have easily taken our money. Jevon and Lynn are nice folks and hard workers. Their trying hard at making a go of it in a tough business. At a bare minimum their presence adds something to the local scene which is very cool.

[XXX-er]

A foot of really quality pow out in the O-zone today with a good traverse in and out ...just kept lapping it !

http://www.schussboomerdownhill.com/

good thing it quit snowing for the Shuss boomer this weekend, gotta plant B-net and drink beer tomorrow, break out the 223's !

[skian_]

In Smithers and area with sled Wednesday for a week and looking for partners.

[Angle Parking]

Freezing level above 2000 meters + rain + super touchy snowpack + temps in the double digits = let the show begin

[WesleyDean]

Any beta on what conditions should be like around Smithers/Terace mid- to late-May? Maybe even further north?

[Angle Parking]

I can provide beta on the Smithers end of things. The bad news first. Fairly low snow year. Not tragically low but 70 to 90 percent of normal in most places around Smithers.
I guess you could say we are ok on that front. A bigger issue right now is the presence a deeply buried persistent weak layer. It's definitely on people's minds and a few people have been taken for some serious rides of late.

Sketchiness abounds. The 5000, a big, showpiece type line right above Smithers slid in a massive way two weeks ago. The top third of this springtime classic did not go however and a huge unsupported slab remains just hanging there. A local guide whose opinion I respect stated that big objectives were essentially off the table for this year.

The good news however is that is has remained fairly cold and grey around here. While some warming might help settle things down on the stability front, the continued cold has kept the snowpack completely intact at and above treeline. Spring skiing has not even started here. In fact, we have had lots of little systems come through and the snowpack is actually still accumulating. (More snow on the way this week)

As it concerns you Mid to late May window, I think the odds of finding good skiing are fairly good. Hopefully the snowpack will have settled by then and the way things are going right now, there should be plenty of snow. Even in fairly bad year (like last year), there is still plenty of skiing to be had. I 've been in Smithers for 8 years now and I fully consider May to be a ski month.

xxx-er should be back from a Burnie hut soon and he will like be able to provide some more beta on the situation in the alpine.

Hope this helps.

[XXX-er]

Just got out of 10 days in Burnie hut, a good trip, there was still 1.7 meters at the hut, mostly pretty good weather we depended on that sun to soften up the snow, some of the crew were skiing in shorts, we only got rained out once, got all the classic routes done followed by 3 days of doing fire wood & closing down the lodge and a last ski yesturday am

To stave off depression I usually go somewhere warm for a couple of weeks at this time of year and quit skiing so I'm not really sure where to ski in may

[Angle Parking]

I feel as though I am engaging in some sort of AA / confessional scenario in saying this, but i am jacked for ski season. Not long now. Turns....delicious turns await us!!!!!

[swissiphic]

Stoke fire is burning hot! Can't wait!

[Angle Parking]

Stoke fire is burning hot! Can't wait!

Welcome aboard sir. Your stoke is mightily appreciated. More northern BC folk are needed around these parts. I believe you and I may have crossed paths in the early part of last season. You and a certain guide sandbagged me and my faithful dog Chica at Shames ????? Disregard if you have no clue what i am talking about. Turns!!!!!!!!!!! Blessed,......... glorious turns. Can't wait.