Sneaky Good Skiing

Quick report

Weather

warm, sunny

Ride Type

openTrees, mellowSlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder, windAffected

Beauty day at Bow Summit today. ~8-10cm of fresh snow, clear skies and low winds made for a great day of skiing from treeline down. Conditions were quite fantastic and “buttery” for how little snow we have received recently. Ridgeline/benches were wind blasted and hard but not bulletproof. We entered all slopes below ridgeline as we were conscious of windslabs. By 1pm snow was beginning to get sun affected on south facing slopes at treeline.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedCalm

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

fewClouds

Wind Direction

NW

New Snow24 Hours

10

Precipitation Type

none

Snowpack

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

N, NE

Test Fracture

unevenBreak

Ski Penetration

10

Test Initiation

easy

Foot Penetration

20

Test Failure Depth

10

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

newSnow, variable

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

facets, crust

No signs of surface instability at all-everything seemed solid and supported. No avy activity anywhere observed, no shooting cracks or whumphs. Ridgelines and exposed terrain above treeline was super wind affected, but not icy. Dug a hasty pit just at treeline near the end of the standard up track/summer trail before the bowl feature. Dug down about ~40cm to see about how the new snow was bonding to the old “crust” which was degrading into facets on the north facing aspect we dug on into. Failure down 10ish cm on the 2nd tap from elbow, with only the new snow going. Uneven Planar result on the buried facet/crust combo. Rest of the snowpack seemed well consolidated and strong and didn’t budge, even with from shoulder hits. Not enough snow today to cause a problem, but soon this layer will be spicy meatballs.