Curtis Lake Area

Quick report

Weather

stormy, cloudy

Ride Type

denseTrees, openTrees, mellowSlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes, alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

windAffected, powder, deepPowder, heavy

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSound

We skied into Curtis lake area from the highway. We skied multiple North aspects and South aspects. The riding quality was significantly better on North aspects as the crust is both deeper down and seems to be less distinct on North aspects. North aspects were wind loaded. We kept it conservative and avoided large convexities and steep treeline slopes.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

brokenClouds

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

Snowpack

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

N

Test Fracture

resistant

Site Elevation

2000

Test Initiation

moderate

Cracking Observed

1

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

newSnow

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

crust, stormSnow, surfaceHoar

CTE 10 down 15cm RP CTM 20 down 34cm RP CTH 24 down 56cm RP 2000m N aspect 20° slope We dug hastily down 90cm and performed a compression test on a 30x30 column of the top 90cm of the snowpack. We got 1 fracture from the wrist of the new 15cm. 1 fracture from the elbow down 30cm. 1 fracture from the shoulder on the January 24 crust. We also got large settlements/whumpfing and shooting cracks near lake elevation. Though concerning at first, the presumed buried surface hoar seemed isolated to the body of water and once we gained some distance from the lake we saw no more signs of instability.