Snow Pack
Up here, shovels aren't just for safety.
100 feet a year. That's all we really need to tell you about the snowfall at the Durand Glacier. Our deep, consistent snowpack is one of the reasons Ruedi chose this location. It's also why so many powder lovers come back to the Selkirks, year after year after year.
The snow starts coming down in October. By early December, when Ruedi and a crew arrive at the Chalet, they have to start preparations with 3-4 days of shoveling. Every new storm (and there are many of them) brings hours more work to keep the walkways, sundeck and heliport clear.
Our guests, however, see no reason for complaint. This snowfall accumulates to an average of 14 feet snowpack at the treeline, and an incredible 20 feet snowpack in the alpine. And what snow! Selkirk powder is the real thing - a light, fluffy, skier's dream. If you're interested in why we can promise such consistent and abundant snowfalls, please read meteorologist Matt MacDonalds explanation in the column below.
You'll understand why, when you find yourself skiing bottomless fresh powder here at the end of April, you're not dreaming.
>> Selkirk Mountain Experience Weather
By Matt MacDonald, Operational Meteorologist.
“The Columbia Mountains are the first major barrier to incoming moisture across British Columbia's Interior Plateau. The northern Columbia's which include the Monashees and the Selkriks receive some of Canada's highest annual snowfall amounts.
The ideal atmospheric circulation for heavy snow to the Northern Selkirks is a west to southwest flow. This way moisture off the Pacific Ocean can sneak in between the South Coast Mountains and the Northern Cascades and remain relatively uninterrupted until encountering the Columbia Mountain Range. A southwesterly flow arrives perpendicular to the range and results in maximum orographic lifting. Western Canada's weather pattern is predominantly from the west. This moisture laden southwesterly flow is thus very common, making heavy snowfall a regular occurrence in the Northern Selkirks.
Located smack dab in the middle of the Northern Selkirks sits the Durrand Glacier, Selkirk Mountain Experience's playground. From the Durrand Glacier, several glacial valleys fan out in a variety of orientations including the E-W Carnes Creek, the SE-NW Downie Creek and the NW-SE Woolsey Creek. This medley of drainage orientations promotes convergence for each of the major atmospheric flows which ultimately results in enhanced snowfall. Carnes Creek channels moisture during the predominant west to southwest flow and creates a snow-belt over the Durrand Glacier and its surrounding mountains. Downie Creek promotes enhanced snowfall to the glacier in a northwesterly atmospheric flow while many of the surrounding sub-ranges have become subsident and dry. Additionally, Woolsey Creek allows moisture to be channeled and converge at the southern edge of the glacier during a southerly flow.
The Durrand Glacier thus benefits from the large scale orographic enhancement of the Columbia's as well as the smaller scale chanelling and convergence effects of the various surrounding drainages. Year after year all of these factors combine to give the Durrand Glacier some of the highest annual snowfall amounts while many surrounding ranges experience large seasonal variability. Deep snow is almost guaranteed on the Durrand Glacier!”
