100 km/h wind in Crowsnest

Quick report

southrockies · Jan 11, 2025 · Crowsnest North

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, windy
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes
Riding Quality
ok
Snow Conditions
hard, windAffected

The soft snow is officially done, especially up high. The extreme wind has stripped the alpine and transported snow far downslope into sheltered treeline and below treeline terrain. We found wind slab at every elevation band. For the most part the wind slab is only 10 to 15 cm in depth which made for some very challenging skiing. We are suspicious of isolated terrain features in the alpine where hard wind slab has formed over faceted snow from last weeks cold temperatures. At treeline elevation, the wind slab is breakable and cracking so steep trees were on our radar for sneaky instabilities.