Follow the yellow brick road

Today we skinned up Shames to access the backcountry. We found wind affected conditions, overcast skies, cold temperatures and moderate NW winds. We found okay skiing in the trees but most areas have wind stiffened snow at the surface. We dug in the tree line on a NE aspect. We produced easy Compression Test results 10cm down (CT E PC, ECT N) and hard Compression Test results 35cm down (CT H RP, ECT N) but did not produce any propagating Extended Column Test (ECT) results. We didn’t see any new natural avalanches but we did see the Ministry of Transport completing explosive control on some nearby avalanche paths that affect the highway. They made avalanches up to size 2 in steep start zones.