AST Field Day Report

Quick report

Weather

windy, cloudy

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, denseTrees

Stayed Away

sunnySlopes, convexSlopes, openTrees, alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

windAffected, powder

One of the last AST field days of the season with Island Alpine Guides. We hiked on firm conditions throughout the whole day. The crust that formed before the most recent snow was supportive at the base of the mountain, then became breakable up higher as it got thinner. We witnessed wind loading into lee aspects at 1400m. We chose a sheltered area out of the wind on a west aspect to dig a snow pit. We saw moderate results down 29cm within the older storm snow. And a hard result down 95cm. This result produced a dramatic sudden collapse. This failed on the old Feb 20 crust that is becoming quite rotten.