Crusty Albert Edward winter route

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, cold, foggy, stormy, sunny, warm, wet, windy

Ride Type

convexSlopes, denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

crusty, hard, wet, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionTemp

Camped out at Circlet on Thursday and Friday and poked our noses towards Albert Edward (AE) on Good Friday. The seasonal feeze/thaw morning crust was in effect with a 180cm snowpack at Circlet. We ascended the winter route on semi-breakable crust in the am on Friday. Ski pole handle would plunge ~30cm until hitting a solid ice layer. There was a breakable layer ~5cm below recent Wed snow (See pic). This had softened at lower elevation, closer to Circlet later in the day Friday. Onto the ridge between Jutland and AE was a slippery wind crust and we wished we had brought our ski crampons. We didn’t go beyond the ridge due to unfavourable conditions - crust, fog, and a miserable SW wind. AE looked to have a lot of wind loading on the cornice and gully (see pic when a break in fog accommodated a snap). No signs of slides other than some melt pinwheeling and a few rocky spots likely from the Thursday solar. In the afternoon Friday, around Circlet, solar aspects were loose/wet and could be ski cut to slide a bit, as on the way out Saturday along the trail to Helen Mackenzie. Overnight snow on Friday was not sticking in the trees until 100m or so above Circlet where there was a definitive snow line (see pic from circlet up to winter route). We crossed Lake Helen Mackenzie on the ice both ways, along the edge on the way in and across the middle on the way out.