Tracking The Hoar

Quick report

Weather

cloudy

Ride Type

alpineSlopes, denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

crusty, heavy, powder, windAffected

My first time back in the backcountry since the rain even that preceded the deep freeze. I wanted to poke around and get a feel for the radically different snow pack since I last skied. What really stood out is a very reactive layer of surface hoar on crust at around 2000m, in the upper tree line zone. Below that the new snow thins out and the crust can be felt. Above, I did not see that reactivity likely due to wind breaking up the surface hoar layer. I would still expect pockets, but not as pervasive as that narrow elevation band beer tree line and just below where it's very consistent.