Date - 15 January 2005
Temperatures ranged dramatically from -20 to +4 degC
Precipitation - 250mm rain in valley (~ equal to 2.5 metres of snow in alpine) over 3 week period
Winter started off with absolutely great conditions, with above seasonal snowpack depths and cold smoke conditions in all of western North America - to be all changed by one singular weather event - rain and record warm January conditions prevailed for five days. The magnitude of the weather event closed many ski areas in western North America for a period, or in some cases for the entire season:>(. It indeed was catastrophic week for many of our skiing friends!) On January 20 winter returned to Bella Coola and temperatures normalized by February 5, 2005.
Date - 15 February 2005
Temperature range from sea level to 7,200 feet: +9 to -17 degC
New Snow: 20-45cm
Average snow depth: 350+cm at treeline, 500+cm on glaciers and at alpine
Skiing conditions: Very good to Excellent
Vertical skied in a 5 day package: 105,000 feet
Lots of time exploring and skiing new runs in our North and South areas. Vertical was achieved in 3.5 days as winds in the alpine prevented skiing on the final day. First descents, long glacier runs with verticals of over 4,000 vertical feet were pioneered. As well as the big vertical and run days the group had time to dip in the natural hot springs.
Date - 20 February 2005
Temperature range from sea level to 8,000 feet: +8 and -12 degC
New Snow: 2-4cm
Average snow depth: 350+cm at treeline and 500+cm on glaciers and in alpine
Skiing conditions: Fair to good, glaciers and above treeline skiing
Vertical skied in a 7 day package: 110,000 feet
The mission of this week was to explore new areas and find the good skiing. We skied more unexplored drainages, new runs, steeps with good snow conditions. Skiing was spring-like later in the week with corn on the south and soft snow on the NE and in sheltered areas.
Date - 1 March 2005
Temperature range from sea level to 8,000 feet: +8 and -5 degC
New Snow: Trace
Average snow depth: 350+cm at treeline, 500+cm on glaciers and in alpine
Skiing conditions: Fair to good on glaciers and below treeline, some poor skiing found on certain aspects and elevations
Vertical skied in a 5 day package: 72,000 feet
The mission of this week was to explore new areas and find the good skiing. We skied more unexplored drainages, new runs, steeps with good snow conditions. Skiing was spring-like later in the week with corn on the south and soft snow on the NE and in sheltered areas.
Date - 26 March 2005
Temperature range from sea level to 7,300 feet: +13 and -9 degC
New Snow: 25-40cm
Average snow depth: 275+cm at treeline, 450+cm on glaciers
Skiing conditions: Fair to Very Good
Vertical skied in a 5 day package: 73,000 feet
Some fair ski runs started the week until we found the sheltered areas with the goods, keeping in mind the tougher flying conditions. On day three it started to snow in earnest. The weather and flying conditions kept us closer to home, on 2,500 to 3,500 foot bad weather skiing runs. Lots of time this week to have a good "time" (and there are those folks that know what we're talking about) ... as they managed to rack up 73,000 in only three days of skiing.
Date - March 30 to April 10 2005
Temperatures: Seasonal norms
New Snow: 25-60cm
Weather: From bluebird days to stormy spring days, and it is still winter in the Bella Coola alpine. The buds are appearing and the robins are singing ... it is spring in the valley.
