Hilda Ridge

Overall very stable snowpack. The powder was also quite good, with plenty of fresh snow and wind deposit on the SE-facing aspect of Hilda. We pushed higher and further into the valley, finding a fantastic open, alpine descent to lap. Conditions began and ended cool and cloudy, with a few hours of sun and warmth interrupting in the early afternoon. We also witnessed a few small avalanches give way on the cliffs to the south of us, between Parker Ridge and Mt. Athabasca. Great day. Hopefully this quality of spring skiing sticks around for a while yet.

We dug a single pit on the SE aspect of a 30 degree slope around 12:30 p.m., atop a considerable wind-deposit. Conditions were progressing from cloudy to sunny at the time, and about -5C. HS 400cm. The top 45cm was fresh powder, followed by a stable, well-bonded base extending down another ~55cm, where we identified a thick, harder-packed storm slab. The top powder compressed easily, followed by an uneven break at CTM17 (i.e. seven elbow hits). The entire column eventually slid with CTVH30+ after a sudden fracture on the storm slab at 100cm depth, though this took considerable force. Overall, a very stable snowpack.