Rainbow SW Slopes

Quick report

Weather

cold, windy, sunny

Ride Type

alpineSlopes, openTrees

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Snow Conditions

windAffected, crusty

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Went to brave the cold and check out rainbow SW slopes accessed via hanging lake on thursday. Lots of wind affect above treeline, with variable wind slab forming on lee features. Evidence of cross loaded from N winds being pushed up and around rainbow on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, starting to form a 8-15cm dense wind slab, sitting on 30-50cm of low density storm snow. Lots of shooting cracks, and small slabs (< 0.5) breaking off. Another party was skiing North facing slopes off Gin Peak, which looked to have better riding conditions and less wind affect. Skin track up to hanging lake is in better shape than last week, but coverage is thin and still contains creek crossings, rocks, and lots of early season hazards. Coverage thins out rapidly with elevation.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedStrong

Blowing Snow

intense

Wind Direction

N

Snowpack

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

SW

Site Elevation

1950

Cracking Observed

1

Site Elevation Band

alp, tln

Surface Conditions

variable

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

crust