13km skied @ 13km

Quick report

Weather

sunny, cold

Ride Type

openTrees, denseTrees, alpineSlopes, steepSlopes, mellowSlopes, convexSlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

hard, windAffected, powder

There is a fine balance to good snow right now, essentially from the bottom of alpine to the top of treeline is lovely... everything else is not so great. We did 4 little laps around the main bowl off 13km of the Dennis West and got a good variation of snow quality. Stuck to N/E aspects and stayed cautious around any wind loaded steep sections with thin spots from being wind blasted and tested convex rolls into treeline hallways. That PWL kept us cautious in a new zone. Alpine is HARD PACK, even in the N-N/E facing bowls which was impressive. Rock hard and shiny crust or wind buffed styrofoam sastrugi. No notable concerning problems showed up as we rode/ skinned. There's an expected wind affect once you get out of treeline but wasn't propagating into a slab on anything we rode, just a bit punchy on the top 5cm North aspect has some pretty speedy dry loose sluffs following us down a steeper slope, and gathered a bit, but stayed just as that. Excellent snow quality Treeline to the car is sporty, but has a light dusting of snow to soften the crust and rowdy tree skiing home.