Early Elk Mountain Expedition

<p>The Vancouver Island field team took an inaugural foray up Elk Mountain to work on rescue skills and make some snowpack assessments. We found a lot less new snow from overnight than weather models had suggested - only about 2 cm sitting on a thin breakable crust. Below the crust there was another 15-25 of settled snow sitting on a monster crust from the last deluge in November. We did notice pockets of wind redistributed new snow up to 60 cm deep in terrain depressions and creeks. It seems like there would be some potential for avalanche hazard where pockets like these exist in steeper terrain at higher elevations. Copious early season hazards like stumps, rocks, and open creeks had us avoiding sled travel away from the access road. </p>

Snow Conditions

Crusty, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Cold, Windy.