New snow, strong winds, and rising temps

Quick report

Weather

sunny, warm

Ride Type

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

heavy, windAffected, powder

First run was in the morning on a NE aspect (photos in the shade). Strong overnight wind (Sunday night) had stripped new snow from the previous two days (~25cm) in the alpine. Moderately hard wind slabs (1F+) were observed in the alpine around 2200 meters. No reactivity from wind slabs observed. Ski quality greatly improved around tree-line. Second run was on an E aspect. We skinned up on an SE-E facing ridge, and skied lee side and slightly NE facing side of the ridge. Temps climbed through the afternoon. Skinning on E facing slopes was tricky with about 20cm of moist snow on melt-freeze crust from late-Feb. Our second run was between 2150 and 1500. Skiing was very good, taking care to stay off of the moist snow (for ski quality, not hazard was not warm enough to be a hazard).