Feb 23, 2008, - Duffy area

As the high pressure wore on over southwestern BC, Sharon and I kept wondering whether snow on high alpine north alpine faces were still good. In the Whistler/Blackcomb area, in the Coquihalla and in other places the N faces were still cold and skiing well. We hadn't been up to the Duffy to check things out for a while. Our good buddy Chris had a crew from Lilloet ready and waiting to explore and when he invited us to come up for a tour, we leapt at the chance.

Conditions turned out to be fine. There's an assload of large (1.5cm +) SH forming. Ridgelines on bowls close to central Duffy have quite a lot of facets but that's no big surprise I suppose. Apparently the snow in Downton closer to the Lilloet side where the snowpack is thinner is very faceted.

We bootpacked N - facing couloirs and didn't encounter W/S . They were shaded. Boot pen was always pretty good - 15 - 20cms approx and consistent without need for crampons or axe.

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