From crust to slush

Quick report

AvCan Vancouver Island · Mar 3, 2022 · East Island

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, foggy, sunny, warm, wet, windy
Ride Type
convexSlopes, denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees, sunnySlopes
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes
Riding Quality
OK
Snow Conditions
crusty, wet
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionTemp

We headed to the Prince of Wales range today. We were surprised at how far you can now drive up the roads, they are snow free to about 400m. After that, the crust prevails! The BTL that was previously saturated has frozen solid. Around 1200m this crust started to become breakable. We dug at 1480m and found that there is a slush layer in the middle of the storm snow, this had us thinking about what might happen with a little more heat and sun. By the early afternoon the surface had softened and the skiing was pleasant in the sun, but still crusty and variable in the trees. By 1000m the snow became very wet and sticky.

3 photos