Oxo/Puzzle - threading the needle

Quick report

Ride Type

mellowSlopes

Stayed Away

steepSlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

windAffected, crusty, powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSound, avalancheConditionSlab

Better than expected skiing, but had to be very selective on the line choice and ski the zones you’d probably want to avoid if it was any steeper. Main line was a mix of windslab to creamy turns. Snowpack ranged anywhere from 10 cm to 110 cm on the main slope, but avoided the vast majority of sharks. Snow pack was generally garbage at the bottom with what looked like depth hoar or buried surface hoar over facets, at about 2500m. One size 2 slide off of lookers left cliff to the left of Oxo/Puzzle that looked pretty new. Couple whumpfs in low angle zones, wouldn’t trust anything too steep. Access and egress was surprisingly good.