Bonnington Traverse

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, stormy, windy, cold

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

deepPowder, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSound

We completed the Bonnington Traverse from Dec. 20-23. The conditions were amazing. We had very cold temps (around -30) and about 40 cm of light powder. On the alpine ridges, we noticed signs of wind effect. There were many wind slabs. We noticed shooting cracks and whumpfing on these wind loaded areas. Below the ridge crest, the snow was stable and we enjoyed good tree and bowl skiing. On Dec 23, it started to snow, leaving about 15cm of snow. This new layer was very reactive and weakly bonded to the existing snowpack. We could trigger storm slabs on convexities below treeline (see picture). Due to the new snow, ridgeline instabilities, and poor visibility, we opted to exit via the Rover Creek FSR. Also, thank you to the group ahead of us who left a faint skin track :)