Red Mountain
Snowpackbpatch · Nov 20, 2021 · McGregor
Quick report
- Weather
- foggy, cloudy, stormy, windy
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes, alpineSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- powder, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionTemp
Good early season outing to the Red Cabin! It snowed pretty much the whole time and was around -2 to -5 most of the weekend. Generally nice fluffy powder at cabin level (1570m) and by the time we were back at trucks on Sunday (700m) it was very sloppy and actively raining. Initial snow depth at the cabin was 80cm on arrival on Nov 17 and about 120 cm on departure on Nov 22. The snow quality below treeline was good (although could use some more coverage before getting quality tree laps in!) and was feeling more wind affected at higher elevations. We had lots of fun doing some laps on the S facing slopes across from the cabin. No signs of instability although there is a faceted layer about 30cm from the ground on the N and S aspects that is worth keeping in mind, especially with the heavy storm and wind loading and fairly warm temps. See the snowpack section for some info on our couple snow pits.
Snowpack
- Depth
- 80
- Obs Type
- summary
- Site Aspect
- N
- Test Fracture
- unevenBreak
- Site Elevation
- 1570
- Ski Penetration
- 20
- Test Initiation
- hard
- Sled Penetration
- 0
- Test Failure Depth
- 35
- Site Elevation Band
- btl
- Surface Conditions
- newSnow
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- facets
We dug 2 test pits: 1) 1570m on N facing treed slope near cabin, total depth of 80cm. No results on CT 0-30cm - solid consolidated block 30-35 cm - loose faceted layer 35-80cm - loose powdery snow 2) 1740m on S facing slope around treeline, total depth of 90cm. Non-planar failure on CTH 26 on faceted layer 0-30 cm - solid consolidated block 30-35cm - loose faceted layer 35-90cm - fairly wind affected/slightly slabby due to ongoing storms but still fun to ski. We felt good about riding fairly mellow open slopes (30 degrees-ish) even with the active storm/wind loading, but keep that faceted layer in mind if you are looking to get into some steeper terrain.