Big Kahuna

Quick report

Weather

sunny, cold

Ride Type

convexSlopes, steepSlopes, alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

crusty, hard, windAffected

Sunday was beautiful and sunny. Temps were -30 at the car by the border crossing parking area. They increased by what felt like around 15 or so degrees above 1200m. Wind was limited to a light breeze out the northeast. Signs of instability were limited to one small pocket of wind slab about 2 feet across and 1 foot down popping out. It was maybe 10 cm thick. Accessed the run via the sled superhighway and skinning up the face of Fraser on south / south east slopes. The snow on the way up was consistently mixed sastrugi and wind crust. While manageable, it was not idea skinning conditions. We opted to bootpack up the last 150 m or so to the Summit as the steeper slopes near the top made skinning more challenging. Wind affect was visible on most aspects with widespread sastrugi on almost all slopes. The run itself was a mixed bag. The top portion was mostly wind affect super hard crust / ice. Around 1500m on north facing slopes there was some dust on crust with varying ski penetration between 2-8 cm or so. The lower portion of the run had a hard crust that would penetrate in places and grab at skis. Definitely not easy skiing conditions. The sun, views, and inversion made the day!

Weather

Sky Condition

clear

Precipitation Type

none