Jan 18 – 25, 2009, Valhalla Mt, BC

Just back from a trip in the Valhalla Mountains - Kootenays - BC (Valhalla Mountain Touring Lodge). Enjoyed sunny weather while the valley was buried under a layer of inversion clouds. Temps in the shade never went above freezing. Excellent skiing in north facing trees and on smaller open slopes. Thanks to the large amount of treed and north facing terrain we found great pow the entire week even though it hadn't snowed in 2 weeks.

Everywhere signs of the major avalanche cycle from mid January, but nothing new during our stay (Jan 18-25). We found that a facet layer was present in various locations between 50 and 100 cm down but it did not react to compression tests. The bond in the new snow above was very strong but shears were clean. With the facet layer in mind, we stayed away from big features that had not released in the previous cycle. Impressive surface hoar in all sheltered areas.

VMT is one of the few lodges with snowcat access that means no weather delays and (almost) no limit on the goodies you can take in. Hutkeeper/owner Dale is a great guy and an excellent source of info on where to find the best pow.