Sastrugi and wildlife
Quick reportfreespirit24 · Mar 29, 2026 · White Pass West
Quick report
- Weather
- warm, sunny
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes, alpineSlopes
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- windAffected, hard
Took a gander at Halcyon on this beautiful sunny Sunday. The top 1-2 cm of snow warmed up to what could be called soft by about 2:00 PM. Otherwise it was wind hammered sastrugi all the way. At about 1350 metres we turned around because we saw what appeared to be some sort of animal in the distance - bear? wolverine? - we didn’t wait to find out. A good reminder to bring bear spray out for spring skiing!
Snowpack
- Depth
- 100
- Site Aspect
- N
- Test Fracture
- resistant
- Ski Penetration
- 6
- Test Initiation
- hard
- Foot Penetration
- 15
- Test Failure Depth
- 15
- Surface Conditions
- newSnow
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- facets
Surprisingly good quality snow at Log Cabin today! Top 15 cm storm snow layer failed after third full arm whack. Dug pit at 1200 metres on 20 degree slope 100 cm to ground Top 15 cm is recent storm snow on facet layer Hard packed layer 35 cm down Sugary facets from 70 cm deep all the way to ground Fun and fluffy ride down. Deep enough that dog had a hard time keeping up.