We were up there on Sunday too. Not much snow at all.

If you want to do a winter ascent of Cheam now is the time. We parked around 1600m elevation - around 45 min from the parking lot. Went up the gully from the meadows and straight up to the peak. Snow is good although you'll need crampons. Snow base is at a max of 3ft - bare in spots. Nice and consolidated. Some sluffing on Lady but nothing on Cheam. T/R coming up soon.

Latest edition of the Coast Mountains Backcountry Report can be found here. We were at TL and ALP elevations only on this report...

Feedback always appreciated...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9AFhGsYyTk#t=24

Not sure this is the right place for this, but I'll try -- has anybody been in/through Manning recently? Am looking for an estimate of the snow depth either at the lodge or the Monument 78/83 trail head. Am going winter camping at the end of February and wondering if there is enough snow for a quinzee.

Thanks!

Blackwall Peak snow pillow, 1934 m elevation:
http://142.36.245.155/data/asp/realt...asp_2g03p.html

Currently showing slightly lower than long-term average, and more or less the same as last year. Check back closer to your trip date.

You can also check the Gibson Pass ski area snow report for a estmate of snow on the ground closer to your target elevation

Finally, the Allison Pass DriveBC webcam conditions will also be relevant.

Thanks, Dru. I've been watching the webcam and ski area snow report but the snow pillow page is new to me -- and helpful, thanks again. I find it strange that the snow pillow reports ~510mm of snow at about 1900m elevation but the alpine conditions at the ski area report a 106cm base at about 1800m elevation (if my reading of Google Earth is accurate). Can anybody explain that?

One is snow water equivalent (weight) and the other is depth.

510 mm of snow water equivalent = 51 cm of water equivalent.

106 cm of snowpack = more than 50% air. so actual water equivalent depth is <53 cm. (106/2)

so, they are pretty close.

Rehab hike to Garibaldi Lake yesterday. Overall, the conditions looked and felt like what you'd see in very late May to mid June in an average snowpack year. Prime for fast travel.

No snow on the drive in. Lots of broken glass in the parking lot.

First snow/ice patches encountered @ Km 4.2 on the trail. Consistent snow/ice by Km 5.5 and microspikes are the traction device of choice. Off trail snow was fully supportive so leave the snowshoes at home unless if you'll be travelling south facing slopes past noon on a sunny day. We won't talk about our skis.

Interestingly, the vast majority of the lake surface is hard ice. I was leery of it being supportive (and would have been of similar mindset to the group that gave the lake a miss after skiing the neve last weekend) but I have it on good authority that the ice is 30 cms thick and a party skied across the lake on Tuesday.

So we have perfect conditions for a game of G-Lake shinny - bring the (speed) skates!!!

ps. Pics below taken from the dock and also in front of Shelter #1 . Note the garbage pile behind Sphinx Hut is bare :O

may i ask how many cars there were ? was planning to go but the risk of break in is making me avoid it...

I think the bigger risk is for overnight cars. I highly recommend leaving no valuables whatsoever in your vehicle AND leaving the glove box open as a signal to would-be thieves that you've left nothing for them. When 25 vehicles were broken into July 19/20th last summer, I noticed that none of the vehicles with glove boxes left open (and nothing of value in plain view) had been broken into.

To answer your question, 3 vehicles in the lot @ 1010 hrs when I arrived, and 5 when I left at 1415 hrs.

I was up Grouse and Goat today and the conditions were ideal just like late spring, the snow was firm and had great grip and the summits were warm when the wind died.

Has anyone done Elk Thurston recently? Wondering if snowshoes are required or if microspikes are the better choice?

I've mainly been doing biking with this recent weather but figure it's time to get some views again.

Practically summer on Elk Mountain. I didn't bother continuing on to Thurston, but the snow would be patchy at best, if any still existed.

I couldn't find a single patch of snow on the way up to the Elk "summit". I noticed one guy had his shirt off and lying on the meadow to sunbathe.

My turn to ask a question: Anyone know what the Elfin Lakes parking lot is like these days? Is it bare, or is it still being plowed?

We went to Mt.Rohr yesterday,very beautiful there, we used microspike from the start of the road to the base of the slope just below the Rohr Lake and changed to the snowshoes and use it since then all the way to the mountain and back. snow condition is very good for a summit push, it is even much easier than doing it in the summer season as rocks are covered by snow.