Glacier Crest surface hoar
SnowpackMSIIVOLA · Nov 28, 2020 · Glacier
Quick report
- Weather
- sunny, warm
- Ride Type
- sunnySlopes, openTrees, alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes, convexSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- powder
On the way to Glacier Crest summit, just below treeline, we noticed on our skin track how blocks of snow, wedged between direction changes in our skin track, were easily sliding on surface hoar, roughly 30 cm down. New surface hoar seemed to be forming on top of the snow. The snow was powdery but had soft slab characteristics. Just above the treeline the snow turned much firmer. There we dug a pit at 1980 m and got CTM 12 on surface hoar layer, sliding easily and cleanly. Since this was a concern, instead of traversing under a big slope, we took a left and got on the ridge and followed it to the summit. Dropping down to Illecillewaet Glacier, we chose the mellowest option with good support. Hand shears and ski cuts at the top of that slope did not show any concerns - quite different from the SW side. Snow on the NE slope was loose and light. Skiing down was fun.
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- point
- Site Aspect
- SW
- Test Fracture
- sudden
- Site Elevation
- 1980
- Test Initiation
- moderate
- Test Failure Depth
- 25
- Site Elevation Band
- tln
- Surface Conditions
- newSnow
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- surfaceHoar
We dug a quick pit at treeline just below the wide alpine slope under which the skin track to Glacier Crest summit typically traverses. The main result was a CTM 12, 25 cm down, sliding easily on a surface hoar layer. The Nov 5 crust did not produce any results in our test and seemed well resistant. We avoided skiing below the test slope by gaining the ridge to skier's left and gaining the Glacier Crest summit that way.