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CHIC-CHOCS BULLETIN |
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Date Issued : Friday April 23th 2010 at 18 h.
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Valid until : December 2010
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Area of concern : This snow bulletin covers certain areas of the Chic-Chocs including Mt. Albert, Mt. Hog’s Back, Champs-de-Mars, Mt. Blanche-Lamontagne, Mt. Lyall, Mt.Vallières-de-Saint-Réal and the Mines Madeleine.
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Forecast of avalanche danger : SPRING 2010 : VARIABLE
In springtime, snow stability varies with freezing (night) and melt (day) cycles. Without overnight freezing, the snowpack is deteriorating quickly just as the stability. At this time of the year, be particularly careful of cornice falls.
Winter report : The 2009-10 season was quite busy at the Haute-Gaspésie Avalanche Centre in spite of a late start and unusual warm and low snow winter in the Chic-Chocs. Our activities started at fall with numerous public avalanche awareness outreaches such as conferences and booths in selected films festivals, outdoor events and specialized retail stores across the province. The professional training program for the Avalanche Centre staff and growing backcountry ski industry in Quebec was loaded with professional development opportunities like ISSW conference in Davos (Sept 28 to Oct 2), advanced search and rescue training with Manuel Genswein (Dec 12-13) and CAA’s Introductory Weather Skills (Nov 7-8) and Ski Operations Level 1 (Jan 4-10) courses in the Chic-Chocs. The forecasting program issued 59 bilingual snow bulletins from Dec 4 to April 23 including daily bulletins during spring break from Feb 26 to March 8. The guidebook project for backcountry runs in the Chic-Chocs is almost completed and we are expecting to release it for the beginning of next season. Finally, the Haute-Gaspésie Avalanche Centre was recently recognized by CSST (Quebec’s workers safety board) for the implementation over the last two seasons of an Integrated Safety Plan for our field operations in the Chic-Chocs.
Avalanche activity : Numerous natural avalanches cycles were observed during the winter following storms or thaw and rain episodes with a noticeable size 3 (can bury and destroy a car, damage a truck and destroy a small building) in the Grand Mur in mount Albert during the December 23 thaw. Some avalanches triggered by skiers or snowboarder were reported with fortunately no incident with injured person.
Snowpack : A total 230 cm of snow was recorded at the Discovery and Services Centre (DSC) study plot compare to 350 cm at the same location last year. In general, this winter snowpack correspond to 50% of the normal snowfalls for the region. The South sectors (Hog’s Back, Champs-de-Mars, Blanche-Lamontagne, Vallières and Lyall) received very little snow compare to the Mines Madeleine area where conditions were far more interesting. Numerous melt-freeze crusts formed after thaw and rain episodes were observed in the snowpack and followed throughout the winter due to the formation of persistent weak layers above and below the ice crust.
Weather : Winter has started in December in the Chic-Chocs with a series of storm leaving about 80% of season snowfalls between mid-December and mid-February. Some thaw and rain episodes occurred during this period in particularly on December 23, January 4 and 26 and February 19. Spring has arrived as soon as mid-February with temperatures around freezing point in February, numerous days between 5 and 10 Celsius in March, a warmth record during Easter Weekend (20 Celsius) followed by warm and rainy days for most part of April.
Messages : This is the last Chic-Chocs snow bulletin for winter 2009-10. Just as we write those lines, there is a about 5 cm of snow remaining at the DSC, you have to walk all the access trail to the Mur des Patrouilleurs and you can drive the road to Mines Madeleine ONLY on the first 1,5 km. The Avalanche Centre team would like to thank you for you interest and support throughout the winter. We really appreciated your comments by email. We wish you a pleasant summer while waiting and dreaming of the next ski season in the Chic-Chocs !!! Thanks again and see you next year.
Prepared by : Dominic Boucher
Disclaimer : This snow bulletin is prepared with the most recent weather, snowpack and avalanche activity data available for the Chic-Chocs. It is strictly information that can be used as a part of a decision making process and is not intended to be a replacement for knowledge about avalanche safety including and not limited to safe travel practices and the use of backcountry rescue equipment such as beacon, shovel and probe.
464, blvd. Sainte-Anne Ouest, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (Québec) G4V 1T5
Telephone : 418 763-7791 | Fax : 418 763-7737 | Email : info@centreavalanche.qc.ca