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Big blue glacier

Published
Mar 25th, 2018 9:03 AM
vincent.larochelle
Vancouver Island
Details

Type

quick

Coordinates

59.567570, -135.034000

Quick Observation

Big blue glacier has approximately 140cm of snow base. We did not observe any sagging snow (crevasse bridges). Snow was very variable, ranging from wind crust to heavier wind-drift powder. Wind effect seemed to be on various aspects near higher elevation, although we did note significant snow on north facing aspects, suggesting strong north blowing winds since last week's snow falls. Overall, we were very confident in the stability of the snow. There was a 10-20 cm of powder (on the heavier side) that was well consolidated to layers below. We observed no whoompfing or shooting cracks. We also tried cutting/stomping on possible trigger points of different aspects and did not observe anything of note. On some north-ish-facing slopes, we did notice a crust with facets underneath, but only very sporadically. Despite all the encouraging signs this suggests that there is still some potential latent danger lurking beneath in some areas. Sorry for generalities, we did not dig a pit, instead chose to travel and ski conservatively to make the most of the beautiful blue-bird day. Although it was sunny, it was quite cold and the snow-pack did not yet begin it's much awaited melt-freeze cycle of love.