January 2010 Conditions in Sicamous

[SledMamma]

Looking to head to Sicamous from the 19-to 23rd of January (next week). Wondering what the conditions are like with all the warm weather. Has it been rain? Is it icy getting to the higher elevations? What about avalanche conditions. I see there has been a special avalance bulletin issued for other areas of the province, but this area doesnt seem to be covered? Am I wrong about this. 'HELP' from anyone whose been lately would be super-duper awesome!!

 

[bobsledder]

Re: Current Conditions in Sicamous

Looking to head to Sicamous from the 19-to 23rd of January (next week). Wondering what the conditions are like with all the warm weather. Has it been rain? Is it icy getting to the higher elevations? What about avalanche conditions. I see there has been a special avalance bulletin issued for other areas of the province, but this area doesnt seem to be covered? Am I wrong about this. 'HELP' from anyone whose been lately would be super-duper awesome!!

Little icy from the bottom staging areas. Some funny stuff happening with riders trying to get out of the Owlhead bottom lot. Watched one guy push his sled in the ditch to keep it from slidin down the trail:d go to Blue, you won't have those issues.
Raining off and on in the valley bottom. 300M
Good snow up in the riding areas. Look up and you can see the snow line 700M
Some days visibility is bluebird sunny up high like yesterday and some days you can't see your hand in front of your face like Friday was. You will get both with the weather system we are in right now.
Avvy is high high but lot's of places to go with out it being a factor.
If you can postpone to the next week you may get better conditions. 14 Day Trend: Sicamous, British Columbia - The Weather Network

 

[wakeskate18]

What is the current situation up there? We are heading up this weekend and were planning on doing some sled skiing. Is eagles pass ok? What is the waterfall like right now? Heading up with one beginner that is OK on a sled but wont be able to shred it up the waterfall if its sketchy.

What about Queest and Owlshead? Never rode those before, would they be any good for sled skiing?

 

[SledMamma]

What is the current situation up there? We are heading up this weekend and were planning on doing some sled skiing. Is eagles pass ok? What is the waterfall like right now? Heading up with one beginner that is OK on a sled but wont be able to shred it up the waterfall if its sketchy.

What about Queest and Owlshead? Never rode those before, would they be any good for sled skiing?

We spent the weekend at Blue Lake and Hunter's Ridge. Dug an Avy Pit at Blue Lake and came up with a very definite layer of ice at about 10" down. I was actually able to pull the ice layer out in an intact sheet! Obviously, not a stable layer at all...

There was another layer about 4 feet down, but it was more of a stable layer of snow and I doubt it was a slide risk. Definitely, the avy risk is high at the moment. That said... we had beautiful days on both hills and kept it safe playing in the trees. We did some bigger climbs, but we were super-aware of our loaded faces and run-out zones, and took precautions to be sure there was "no-one above and no one below".

Just be safe and look around you is my advice. Could've used some more fresh snow up there, but we found plenty in the trees and meadows... Have fun!