Metal Dome

Quick report

Weather

sunny, cold

Ride Type

sunnySlopes, openTrees, alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

windAffected, powder, crusty, hard

Went up to Metal Dome and the Metal Dome glacier to check out early season conditions and hang with a close friend. Snow on sunny aspects is quite marginal and variable, ranging from sun affected trap crust at TL, and wind affected snow ATL. Below tree line, many obstacles exist, and the biggest challenges in your day are access and egress, with snow levels well below threshold. Best quality skiing/riding exists on high elevation shaded aspects in sheltered locations. We skied on the Metal Dome glacier. Glacier conditions with a thin snowpack definitely require bringing glacier gear and knowing how to use it. There were a few crevasses that are forming reliable snow bridges, but most crevasses are best to navigate around at this time of year by following concave features and compression zones.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

clear

Wind Direction

S

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

Snowpack

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

S, SW, NE, N, SE

Site Elevation Band

tln, btl, alp

Surface Conditions

variable

Snowpack Summary: Alpine Polar Aspects: 10-15cms of light (F hardness) faceted new snow sits atop a variety of surfaces. In exposed areas, hard wind affected snow is the current surface condition, with very little to non-existent ski pen. Total HS: 50-60cms. Solar Aspects ALP & TL: Hard wind affected snow sits above the ground. Snowpack depths range from 20-40cms. Ski pen is very little to non-existent. In more wind sheltered locations, a thin (approx. 3cm) sun crust has formed above faceted new snow (F hardness) that is sitting above the ground. Below TL: Snowpack depths ranging from 0cms-20cms are below threshold for both skiing and avalanche hazard.