Skiing in the time of uncertainty

[LeeLau]

Just going through the archives to keep it going since the season is over. To be clear this is all now pre-lockdown pics.

A northerly blew through the Duffey and brought strong winds to the alpine. We wanted to see for ourselves how things were affected and if so, how much. Up we went only to feel the full force of strong arctic outflow winds at tree-line.

Slabs were forming; fractures were propogating. This was no time to take chances. We pulled the plug and bailed for the trees

[hutash]

Keep it coming Lee, it is going to be a long sring and summer.

[LeeLau]

Darwin zone

A cold spell for mid-March brings in unseasonably low temps. While sun affect is putting paid to even W and E aspects everything remotely north-facing still skis beautifully. Travel is fast as coverage has improved all season. We spent a bunch of time hunting N-facing couloirs and had nice payback as the zone delivered a distinct lack of crowds, reasonable (but not overly steep) lines, and sheltered N facing stable snow

[LeeLau]

Central Duffey March 16

The way the world was going we figured skiing would shut down pretty soon. Lending to this pessimism (reality?) was the recent Arctic outflow wind event which had decimated snow quality. It has warmed up a bit so wasn't quite at the -20's of the past few days. We picked a N facing zone that probably had gotten windslab but hopefully we would be able to avoid sun-effect on solar aspects while skiing trees.

Some scenics

[LeeLau]

It was still cold (-11@ at valley. -11@ridgetop). Winds had backed off so winds were light at ridgeline. However all N, NE and NW aspects now had a stout pronounced windslab (2 – 5cms pencil). With W, S and E aspects having suncrust this means that all aspects have subpar quality. We did find some good skiable terrain below treeline but ya gotta look. Treebombs, windslab and suncrust now meant that many routes up require advanced skinning skills. We toured for views; found some decent snow and got to check out cool new zones

[LeeLau]

The season ended on March 17 (well we skinned up the WB runs a couple of days or so after they clo but it really barely counts). Here's the last day

Sunset and Vantage – March 17, 2020

We didn’t think it would be the last ski of the year but there it is and there it was. Shar, Corey, Kris, Jamie and I went out to Cerise Creek to take a look at Vantage Col and investigate the glaciers. Given how sketchy the Cerise crossing we figured that rising temps would put this route on borrowed time.









It was a warm day but travel was superb. We made it out to the Vantage/Twin One col in no time at all. As expected the rising temps meant that access via the glacier direct would expose one to solar effect. Also sastrugi and the glare of settled wind slab up high was visible with the naked eye. I personally didn’t want to spoil my perfect record of skiing the Twin One Glacier in good snow so we opted instead to climb the Anniversary – Twin One ridge to look at some more traditional lines.

[old goat]

great pics (could have done without #3 : -)