_modzzz_articles_page_title_browse_letter RSS2021-12-22T06:00:00+0000Thank you Whitney for kicking my butt back into gear to post these terribly overdue resources from my "Weather Workflow 20211221" presentation. Links below, followed by a repost of the Q&A. The full Powerpoint slide deck is inside the post attachments.   List of web resources mentioned:  What do the professionals think? AvCan Weather Blog https://avalanche.ca/weather/ 500 mbar chart https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast/other-maps Automated products: SF or MF https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Whistler-Blackcomb/6day/top GFS Heavy mountain-forecast.com is the same site NOAA Precip Probabilities https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/pwpf/wwd_percentiles.php?fpd=24&ptype=snow Ensure you set it to snow mode. This product is not available in the summer for obvious reasons Confidence between models: EPSgram https://weather.gc.ca/ensemble/naefs/EPSgrams_e.html Grains on the ground Automated snow pillow heights in BC https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c15768bf73494f5da04b1aac6793bd2e Full snow profiles (from a limited subset of locations): https://snowpilot.org/snowpits/query Filterable list of AvCAN MINs https://avalanche.ca/mountain-information-network/submissions remember to apply filter "Report Type: Snowpack" Satellite derived soundings: https://www.weathernerds.org/models/hrrr.html Pick a forecast run 0Z, 6Z, 12Z or 18Z; drop a map pin, then click get sounding. Session Q&A (reposted for visibility) I have had trouble finding weather station data to check snow depth in different areas This is genuinely difficult. There are only a few public resources I know of: Automated snow pillow height systems Snowpilot AvCan MINs (with filters applied) I tend to triangulate my weather forecasting through a variety of sites, with an emphasis on Mountain Forecast.com but I'm curious whether there is a better way to do this  Yes! You can regionally target optimal precip using... Read more

]]>2021-12-22T06:00:00+0000The weather forecast was originally for rain, so we expected to be making more use of the hut, but by the time the long weekend arrived, it was sunny and warm. Our group of eight met at the gas station in Squamish before repacking into just two cars for the drive up the service road. Some work had been done on the worst parts of the road, but it still required being slow, and cautious. We did see some cars without all-wheel-drive, but they were either parked 2km from the trail-head, repairing a flat tire, or leaking oil. On Saturday (Nov 9) there was just a sprinkling of snow at the start of the trail, and it only got a little heavier as we worked our way up. Between stopping for lunch, and being cautious scrambling over the rocks it was a 4.5hr hike up. We arrived to find the cabin already warm since there were a couple of BCMC custodians at the hut (David Scanlon, and Ed). The cabin is amazing. It's sealed well enough that there were no mice. Water from the creek is just a short walk away, the view of the sunset from the porch is great, the foam sleeping pads were nice (even though I think everyone brought their own), and the fire keeps things cozy (almost too hot at times so I regret not bringing a cooler sleeping bag). The custodians were very helpful. In addition to David calling me on Friday to let us know the road and trail conditions, and helping chase away the dozens of day hikers over the weekend, He and Ed also offered a number of great suggestions for hikes in the area -- and left footprints in the snow to follow. As a result on Sunday the group split up. Some headed up Martin Peak, some up Watersprite Tower, and some did both. While we were hiking on Sunday David was working on building a trail up to Demon Ridge (I'm not sure if it's possible to connect to the Demon Ridge trail that branches off the Watersprite Trail, but that would be an interesting alternate route to try in the summer). Some of the group explored the new trail on Monday before hikin... Read more

]]>2018-11-16T03:05:00+0000Trip 01-02/07/18 Washington Pass/Mazama with David C. CHANGING PLANS The bad weather looming over Vancouver for the long weekend meant I had to cancel the BCMC trip that I had planned to climb Sunday Escape Velocity in Habrich (hopefully to rescheduled soon). Last minute on Saturday decided to instead go to Washington (US) as the closest place with a good forecast. After a few stopovers and a late start we made it to the parking lot of the Washington Pass trailhead around 2pm, the lot was almost completely full with lots of car parked on the side of the road. It was late for an alpine climb but we thought that we could do something like the Beckey route or Rapple Grapple reasonably fast, on the way we crossed a party coming down that told us they had spent the entire day waiting and not climbed anything as too many people on Beckey…ok, we are definitely going to be the last people on the route and hopefully people are way ahead of us so we can move quickly, around 3.30ish we arrive to the gully and the sight is not pretty. Never seen so many people on a climb, let alone alpine, the traffic jam made look Diedre on a Sunday morning empty. There is no way the people on the back are making it down with light… lots of parties of 3 and what look as new leaders moving extremely slow, the traffic jams on the belay ledges being full didn’t speed thing up. Noone in any other route on the Liberty or Concord tower though! We considered alternatives to the Beckey route but most of them share a few pitches with it and the prospect of being stuck behind parties that have been waiting the entire day to climb on the way up and then on the rappels didn’t seem too attractive.  I had scouted the North Face of the  Concord Tower as an alternative… and absolutely no one in the entire mountain, so we decided to do this route: P1: maybe a few 5.6 moves up the crack that starts in the same notch as Beckey route, then left through an easy foot railing (good gear and solid rock) but we were ... Read more

]]>2018-07-05T00:44:00+0000Trip up from WOP Biathlon went well, despite no new snow in quite awhile.   $15 per car charge to park at Biathlon parking lot and for a one day trip well worth the charge.  Good snow base and winter trail markings are easy to follow.  Normal party should take 2.5 hours up to LAKE.  About another 1/2 hour to Rainbow pass  Hard firm snow and good path from weekend visitors allowed a relatively easy ski out from the lake ((approximately 1 to 1 1/4 hours). Need a good snow base to make for a relatively easy ski out.

]]>2018-03-20T04:41:00+0000Ascended Wedge Mountain along the Northeast arete in good conditions on Monday July 3. The forecast for Sunday was clear skies. However when we arrived at the trail head, there was a cloud cover above Wedgemount Lake. Overcast on the approach trail made it very pleasant and cool to hike in. Along the trail we bumped into the ACC group and BCMC members and gave us some beta on the route. It took us ~3 hours to the hut and we took a well deserved break. After, we opted to camp further up the glacier along a rock ledge. We passed the lake and contoured around the glacier to get a better idea of the route and camped on a broad rock ledge. The area was very accommodating for setting up tents. We had dinner and took a well deserved nap for an early alpine start. I am not sure at what time I woke up, but we left at 2:30 am. It was still cloudy.We could not see the ridge proper. The lead team was in front and went up the col to join the ridge. After a couple 100 m on the ridge, gendarmes blocked the passage. We turned back and opted to bypass it lower on a steep snow slope. We followed the ridge without any difficulty. The clouds lifted and we had an Alpen glow on the face of Wedge. It was amazing. We climbed the steep snow section of the arete and made it on the summit. We did not linger too long on the summit. It was windy. It was not over yet. We descended back down the col to the glacier proper. It took us 3 hours to camp. I highly recommend doing the entire Northeast Arete. It's definitely worth doing.   Here is the link for the photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bx-Yw3b7iTwvYkRsUU1NYzFuUmM?usp=sharing

]]>2017-07-17T14:53:00+0000