Pass Lake

Heinous ski conditions at Pass Lake up towards Farm Cabin. Attempted to take the trail on the right of the creek to get up to top of ridge. From trail head to about 1000 m there is essentially no snow in treed areas (0-5 cms) and it’s mostly frozen ground or sheer ice. In open patches, the snowpack was 10-30 cms and is 5-10 cms of storm snow on top of sheer ice. We bootpacked this section, which was challenging due to sheer ice and no snow to grip. We were able to start skinning around 1000 m but only made it about a kilometre (200 m elevation) before our way was completely blocked by alders and undergrowth- we decided to cut our losses here and survival ski/boot pack back to the car. Between 1000-1200 m the snowpack was between 20-40 cms but highly variable with many hazards, and the ice layer under the fresh snow was not ideal for skinning. The terrain we could see above 1400 m looked much better- the challenge is getting there. Overall, some of the weirdest snow conditions I have ever seen in January, and potentially very dangerous at lower elevations. On the bright side, it was a beautiful day and we got the skis out for a nice walk. Fingers crossed for more snow 🤞