Kutetl Creek, WH20 Backcountry

Quick report

summitmountainguides · Dec 11, 2019 · North Rockies

View on map

Quick report

Weather
cold, sunny
Ride Type
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes
Stayed Away
convexSlopes
Riding Quality
Good
Snow Conditions
windAffected, powder

We skied in the headwaters of 5 mile and Kutetl creeks this morning between 1660m & 2325m. We observed widespread surface hoar to size 10mm on all aspects and elevations right to ridge top. Localized wind affect in the Kutetl alpine with slightly less surface hoar formation. A test profile at 2040m on an east aspect in Kutetl creek: height of snow 130cm, compression test hard (21) resistant planar down 21cm and compression test hard (25) sudden collapse down 85cm in a soft facet layer size 1-3 between denser layers. Good skiing on all aspects despite some wind affect on easterly aspects. Keep an eye out for this new surface hoar layer as it gets buried with this new storm snow.