Great Expectations/Countdown to Ecstasy

Short of making the drive up to Whitewater, there are a few different ways of determining what conditions up there might be like - pretty much all of them involve looking up.

The snowline has been creeping down the high points around us. The dusted mountain tops teasing at what the ski hill might be like, as we head to the local corner store for a litre of coffee cream. 

We've had one good dump that made walking along the rail-bed above uphill (or hanging in our own backyards) feel like a mid-winter experience.

As I type, I look out my window and enjoy an inside-of-a-ping-pong-ball kind of visibility and I wonder: what is it really like up at Whitewater right now? There are a couple good indicators available: the peak of Elephant Mountain is at about the same elevation as the base of Whitewater so.... if you see fresh snow up there, chances are good there will be snow at Whitewater. 

If you live somewhere other than Nelson, you can also check the snow report on the Whitewater site, or, maybe best of all, the webcams. I'm also a regular visitor to the Avalanche Canada site and enjoy their weather nerd page. Finally, Backcountry Skiing Canada collaborates with Whitewater avy pros to produce avalanche conditions report videos - they are great. You can watch the first one of the season here. 

But—do you know what the best way to gauge conditions up at Whitewater really is? GO TO WHITEWATER. Know when you can do that? A WEEK FROM NOW. (give or take).

And, if things continue to shape up with their current trajectory, the 15cm rule may be in effect. Ho-ly.  See you up at the hill soon.