Rogers Run in?

<p>Went to have a look at Rogers Run as East Rogers winter restricted area was closed yesterday. Thiny surface hoar cristals had formed on the surface overnight at all elevations. Three down tracks from yesterday were noticed on Grizzly Shoulder (while the area was closed) with an uptrack coming from way up the Grizzly Bowl slidepath. Disappointing to see that a group managed to enter a closed area on the first avalanche control day since the winter permit system came into effect. Their tracks, two skiers and a snowboarder, dropped in the main Grizzly Shoulder run from 2100m, the usual transition place. We took a very conservative route to get over the Grizzly Knob and short shooting cracks could be obtained with a bit of stomping around. The failure, 30 to 40cm deep, was on the Nov 5th crust on windswept features and within the storm snow in more sheltered areas. We took a very conservative route to access Rogers Run, avoiding all convexities and the obvious start zone. In the run itself, we could control the edge of pillows (steep unsupported) with failures mostly 40-50cm down within the storm snow, and not so much on the November 5th crust which was over 100cm down. The skiing itself was good with 30-40cm ski penetration but the trees a little tight, the pillows looking more like small cliffs, and the more open areas down low having a firmish base (Nov 17th crust). We cut way left at the bottom to avoid avoid having to cross the open waters of Connaught Creek. All in all, not excellent but not too terrible, i.e. fair.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Dense trees, Steep slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Powder.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy.