Facet.Pow.Sun !

Quick report

Weather

cold, sunny

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

powder

We braved the chilly morning and sledded in to the Harvey Pass area with our skis.   Parking the sleds at 1900 m (-13, calm, clear sky), we toured to ridge top at 2200 m (-15, light SW, clear sky), where we had a good look around and we only saw one Size 1 Dry Loose release from a steep cliff band on a south facing slope. We had no signs of instability as we toured.   Approaching the ridge, we encountered wind-stiffened snow, so we backed up a little and transitioned there, rather than move into the wind affected area.   We dug at our transition point (30 degrees, north-facing, HS 165), and had no alarming results in our test. This, along with our observations during the climb, gave us the confidence to ski the open treed slope, which was great !   These weather conditions are promoting (continued!) faceting of the surface and upper snowpack, which is (wonderfully!) unconsolidated. We will, however, definitely be thinking about these weak facets once a slab forms on top of them with new snow and / or warming.