Soft sastrugi on hard slabs with a side of powder

We found surprisingly decent sled skiing on gladed south slopes up Summit Creek around 1100m. The sled access from the highway along the east side of the canyon is sporty but approachable now, side hilling was tricky in a few spots where we broke thru hard slabs over facets on the approach. In the shelter of the trees foot pen was 20 cm, there was some nice pockets of preserved powder. Probing the snow pack was 160 cm deep and the Jan 25 melt freeze crust was down 60 cm here. We rode mellow sunny slopes less than 30 degrees and it was fun for kids of all ages! Weather was -14 C at 2pm with broken skies and moderate NE winds in the alpine.