Sunday, January 18, 2015

Jan 18/15 - Still Snowing 10cm So Far

Well I wish I could show you photos but the kids used up my internet (thus no update since the 8th) and Google won't upload my photos - sent me back to Jan 1, 2005. Jeesh - ok bitch session over as it is SNOWING!  yahoo.  We needed a injection of snow as the alpine trails were getting super rough per guests.  Now for locals - the alpline trail is just "a bit rough" so you place yourself on the relative scale.  Curt groomed the Flathead on his first day off of work, groomed our trail and did some trail maintenance on his second day off and blew snow in our yard on his third day off.  Now he is at an avalanche two day course and will be heading back to work tomorrow.  It takes a bunch of guys in clubs all over here like this to keep our trails open and accessible let alone groomed.  Every club is responsible for their own grooming, purchasing and maintaining their own equipment and negotiating with land owners and corporations like Teck out here to be able to keep accessibility to your favorite riding areas.  Its not a money making venture let me tell ya.  Many members contribute from their own companies or personal bank accounts to purchase and repair and maintain equipment.

 Snow is reported as pretty good or better than expected by riders who ride here lots and trailer from Sask - thank you Elvis for the report.  We woke up to 5cm of snow and its snowed another 5cm with 30cm total forecasted.  We had another 5-10cm about 4 days ago.  Temp is +2 and supposed to go to -12 tonight and hover in that -1/+1 range over the daytime for the coming week with -7 freezing temps at night.  Still snowing significantly.

Get the app from www.avalanche.ca because there is excellent alpine specific weather on the app for each area you choose to ride.  On the phone weather bug it is saying periods of rain but when you go to altitude that can change to snow quickly.  We are NOT getting rain at 4500ft.  Visibility up top is going to be low so don't get into areas where you don't know what is looming above you.  With this new weather the avalanche risk increases and in our area "Lizard and Flathead" (we used to be South Rockies) the risk is now at Considerable for below treeline and High for treeline and above treeline.  Give it a few days with the stable weather settling in and snow will bond and conditions should improve.

Curt and Cooper are at the AST 1 course again this year.  Take the course - its fun, its great to meet other riders and talk about riding areas and it will improve your decision making. The course will  make you aware that you are in the Backcountry and although it is more accessible to a wider range of people than ever,  it has risk and with the right tools,  you can mitigate dangerous situations.  Don't ride here without a beacon, probe and shovel and without knowing how to use it.  Thinking otherwise is truly now an old fashioned school of thought.  Zacs Tracs provides AST courses and Companion Rescue courses all over Saskatchewan, Manitoba and BC.  They even do quick classes for awareness at snowmobile shows.

Sorry for the long blog - I will try to upload some photos tonight after they are backed up and I will have info from Fernie and Corbin.  Cheers - V

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