Blue Lake Snow Conditions

I was riding on Sat. Mar. 6, and lost my camera. The last time I used it was at Mara Lookout, so I beleive it is near there. It is a Canon Powershot A560, in a black case. Unfortunately there wasn't any contact info on it. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

We had to much fun at Blue yesterday so did a trip into SugarLoaf! Our "team" was split up but Bruce and I had a blast! We took a new "secret" route to get into Sugar and found nothing but untouched and deep snow! It had settled a bit from yesterday but we still had to work the turbo's to get where we wanted to go. I'd have taken some deep woods pics of the holes we had to dig ourselves outta but I was to tired! We had a real hoot in the trees and finally made our way up to the lake, then overtop and halfway to Blue Lk. There was so much untouched stuff that we turned around and made our way back the way we came in and finished off what we started, what a day!

One word, WOW!!!!! What a unbelievable day! Grant, Duane, Bruce, Howard, Sterliing and myself hit the Blue Cabin, after reports from Grant and Duane that there was a ton of snow yesterday. They weren't lying! Even the Bunny Hill was a challenge for those two stroke guys! We made our way down to the lake, tearing up each hill on the way and everyone getting stuck. Yes, even us turbo guys! Across the lake and past 200Hp and up and around and down to Brown Pants, which avy'ed sometime in the last little while. Then back up and around to the cabin, a heck of a day with an honest 2' to 3' of snow and some places even deeper. With no base to speak of it meant alot of trenching and keeping 'er pinned everywhere you went. With more rain in store down below there is going to be another big dump up top! Better get at it before it's the end of the year! Sherm

We had a huge crew today, doing the Sugar Loaf to Blue route. Bruce, Dan (on his newly turbo'd Nytro!), Chris, Duane, Grant, Eric, Charlie, Glenn and yours truly! We had fresh snow, 6" to a foot and although somewhat heavier than usual, it was a terrific day! Sunshine all day and once we got "up on top" there wasn't a fresh track to be seen but we made short work of that! Quite a bit of avalanche activity still and no doubt will be until the end of the season, so be careful. You couldn't wipe that "turbo smile" off of Dan's face if you had a Mr Clean scrub pad! He was hooting and hollering all day long, another one hooked! We had to unload just past 6 km but it is that time of year again, snow melting off the road at a pretty fast rate. Make sure when you do park that you leave enough room for the next guy, in other words, don't be a road hog!

What a day out! We had a big crew, Dan with son Derek, Dan's brother Norm, Charlie, me of course, and then met up with Duane, Glen and Grant! We did the Sugarloaf route and worked out way over to Blue. Fresh snow all over the place, up to a foot in some spots. Lighting was excellent even though the sun didn't come out until after lunch and needless to say we all had a blast! With more precip on the way and cooler temps we will no doubt be in for more snow. Quite a few avy areas, lots of areas that have already slid and some areas that have just "cracked". Sled smart and safe, keep an eye on your group and have a blast! Sherm

Myself, Bruce, Dan and Charlie went on a exploratory mission today. We are trying to plot the new ATV course up at Cummings Lk, bypassing the lake entirely. There are still those that refuse to heed the warnings about tearing up all the area around the lake so we're putting a bypass in, in hopes everyone will use it. Failure to do so will no doubt end up in a closure of the area!

Anyways, after doing that we went on another mission that took us down to the 911 area. We actually found some untracked snow in certain areas and had a heck of a good time pulling up off the lake! That was after we spent a couple hours down some drainage, looking for a shortcut. We did have a good pull coming out of there as well! There is fresh snow up there folks, 5-6" in some places and it was snowing when we left at the end of the day. There's still more precip in the forecast for the entire week so, I'm guessing we should be getting more of the white stuff all week! Groomed trails are pristine and sledding is looking wayyyyy up! Sherm

Another banner day up Sugarloaf way! We had a big crew, Bruce, Gerald, Duane, Glenn, Grant, Rob, Gary and yours truly. Although someone beat us to the lake and did a bit of beating up of the hills, we were left with enough to tire us out! About 6" of fresh snow but, when you got off the sled you sunk down to your knees in some spots and there were the odd deep spots up on the slopes!

We made our way across the ridge and towards Blue, beating up each and every bowl on the way, not a track across the top again, it was great! This was Rob and Dave's first time to our area and they were more than impressed and will no doubt be spreading the word to their fellow sledders. Trail was groomed and great as usual and the all day sunshine didn't hurt either! Sherm

You'd think I'd hung up my backpack and helmet by the lack of reports on the site. Short of it is, just haven't been out, snow conditions haven't been the best and other "stuff" has soaked up this sledder's time! However, we had a good crew go out yesterday. Bruce, Dan and his son Derek, and Dan's buddy Mel and of course your truly the Shermantor!

The day started out well, with the rental Dragon, Mel was driving, seizing up at about the 2 km mark, so back that went and a Cat was the replacement. While that was happening an XP was being towed down the hill, signs of things to come? Nah, we had an awesome day, working to Brown Pants area, not a track anywhere and anywhere from 6" to a foot of fresh, it was great. The Nytro proved itself again, as pulling out of Brown Pants you merely had to point it where you wanted to go and push the throttle. The "2 strokes" had to side hill the same area and Dan's Dragon goes pretty danged good! He took the Nytro for a pull and when he came back and parked, his words were "Holy sh%$ holy sh%$!!!". He said to go and look where he pulled out of Brown, no ski marks on the snow at all!

From Brown we went to the meadows around 911 and tore that all up, no tracks there either! Bruce led us down one garden path we shouldn't have gone down and after getting 3 sleds unstuck (but having fun of course!) we found our way back! These off the beaten track areas are terrific for getting into, no one else had been into them so the snow was deep and pristine! We have more precip on the way and cooler temps so here's hoping we can get more of the fresh stuff up top!! Sherm

Oh what a day!!!!!!! Bruce, Charlie and myself headed up Blue and hung a left to get to Sugarloaf, talk about snow! No one had been back there, or at least it didn't look like it, for at least a week or more. When you got off your sled you went down to your knees and in my case that's almost 2'! We ripped the hills there, then went down to the lake, that was as treat, and then made our way back up the slopes and broke trail all the way back to Blue Lake. Conditions couldn't be any better, lots of fresh snow and "almost" sunshine, alot warmer up top than down in the valley. We ripped and stripped until we were bagged. The Nytro turbo?? Flawless! Even Charlie, who rides a 1200 Cat, after taking the Nytro for a rip came back and all he could say was "Wow!!". Man that thing goes up hills, no effort and not flat out unless you want to catwalk it, just amazing! Anyways, a great day, just wish we weren't so bagged and could have burned up some more fossil fuel, it doesn't get any better!....................Sherm

***Avalanche Danger is high, that big slope on the side of Blue has already let go, right from the top***

Bruce and I did the "tour guide" thing today, took out a bunch of folks from Alberta, east of Camrose I believe. We had a helluva nice day, sunshine and some fresh snow, it couldn't have been better! We did the entire loop, from the cabin onto the lake to Brown Pants and then back around and over to Foggy Bowl. In the past they had just stuck around the cabin area but now they know about the huge area around the cabin they will no doubt venture further the next time they are up. Great to meet all you folks and look forward to getting some of your pictures and some names to go with them!

Charlie, Gerald, Pete and Dave made a trip to Blue and did the "loop"! Nice day sledding, about 6" of fresh stuff and snowing on and off while they were up there. Trail was nice and smooth from the previous days grooming so no complaints about anything! Charlie even fixed the crapper door after someone felt it necessary to break it off. Sorry I couldn't make it out again this trip Gerald, with any luck the sled will be running by the time you get back here again!

Nov. 27

Pete, Terry and I were out Friday enjoying powder and sun! We unloaded at
about 5.5k on the Blue Lake trail (deck and small trailer). Lots of snow
all the way up except for a few open water runs from 11-13. We had 1.5-2
feet of powder on a great base all day. I took out my "new to me" '09 M8
and had a blast, what an easy sled to get used to!

These November conditions are amazing. We did our best to beat down all the
powder but there is lots left and it is snowing heavily now in Sicamous
(Sat.)

Tim

I was outvoted on where to go so, back to Blue we went! Duane and his crew had two days of awesome sledding with a good 2' of fresh snow. Today, well, Duane's tracks were all but covered and there was another foot in some spots. As well, we now appear to have a bit of a base!

We did the usual trek, round about and wound up at the bottom of Brown Pants. Although the stock Nytro couldn't compete with the 1000's power (just wait!) it did pretty darned good for 135HP!! Got to stick up for myself 'cause no one else will. Another great day of sledding, the snow conditions were described as early January sledding with the amount of stuff on the ground. The other bonus today was that pretty much everyone got stuck sometime, and, it would appear I had the only camera so there aren't any Nytro pics showing off my rollover/rolloff skills! More rain in the forecast all week, another 1' to 2' by this coming weekend for sure! Sherm

Well, we finally made it up the hill, Charlie, Bruce and myself. Other than working the bugs out of the sleds, Bruce's new motor, Charlie's new motor and my new/used Nytro, we had an absolute blast! We tested out the bunny hill at the cabin first, that's when Bruce discovered he was a wee bit low on coolant and his sled was overheating. So, there went Charlie's and my water supply for the day! Bruce was the first to get stuck, on the way DOWN to the lake! The lake is mushy on the edges but does seem to firm up in the middle. We tried the hill to get to 200 but with no base and 5-6' of snow, Charlie got stuck first, then Bruce and then me, a perfect score!

We headed back up towards the cabin and took the ridge to the top side of Brown Pants, to early to go down there so we bypassed and stayed high to get over to the top of 911. Any open area was fair game for ripping and we had no horrendous encounters with rocks or stumps, so that was a good thing! On the way back to the cabin we cut the trail from 200 down to the lake so that should set up nice for you and the boys Duane! If I can get my clutching fixed, Bruce can get his oil/coolant leak fixed and Charlie's done tweaking on his motor, you just might see us up there Duane!

Most of the areas we ripped had a good 4-6', and that is less than the last time Charlie came up here. That means it has settled a bit and there is a crust about 6" under the snow. With warmer weather in the forecast it could settle even more and with luck we could get a better base. We unloaded at 7km, having to chop a couple of trees out of the way first. It would be a good idea to take a saw of some sort of saw along just in case you come across more windfalls on the way up, you do have to get up higher up to get some snow on the road. As it was we had to use scratchers for about 4-5km because the road was icy. I did get some pics of our escapades but I'm to bagged to put them on tonight, tomorrow! Sherm

Well, Charlie was the first one to break trail to the cabin, or at least the first to report he did! He took up newcomer to our club Dean Fyfe and was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty good dump of snow up top. Although a little early to take a run at 200 HP Hill they did have a good look at the area surrounding the cabin and found 4-5' of the white stuff in most areas. They unloaded at 6km but found debris on the road in the form of rocks and trees and did manage to clear some of it but a chainsaw will be needed to get at the big stuff. Better snow was on the trail at 12km and pretty easy going after that. It was snowing when they left the cabin and from the forecast for this weekend there'll be more dumped again! Thanks for the pics Charlie and welcome aboard Dean! Sherm