Pulpit 1 : Ski Tour 1

Quick report

robt123 · Dec 8, 2024 · Waterton Lakes

View on map
Observation photo 1Observation photo 2

Quick report

Weather
cloudy, sunny
Ride Type
mellowSlopes, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes
Riding Quality
good
Snow Conditions
powder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

Day out at Pulpit 1 today, going to call this game a draw. Bow River and Hector Lake mostly frozen and fairly easily crossed, with skins (almost) staying dry. Rather strenuous trail breaking on the way up, with 30cm storm snow sitting on an unsupportive, faceted snowpack. Lots of alder and buried deadfall trying its hardest to snags skis and bodies down low, there’s always a joy in those kind of up tracks though… Observed numerous large settlements and shooting cracks on our skin track. Multiple hand shears failed in the easy range, with one failing upon isolation. Appeared to be failing on facets below a small melt freeze crust from the most recent warm weather. Also observed multiple recent crowns up to size 2 on E facing terrain between Pulpit 1 and 2. Kept things very mellow and stayed out avy terrain. Skiing was good quality between 2250 - 2100m before turning into a slightly more survival style below this. A nice way to stretch the legs and see how the snowpack was handling the latest load.