Avoiding Cavities in the Molars

Quick report

Weather

warm

Ride Type

openTrees, mellowSlopes, steepSlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder, crusty

Left Kicking Horse planning to check out Repeater Ridge via the north drop from the Molars. Once we got to the drop (at ~2,225m), a windslab had formed above the descent into the gully, and the wind was picking up below and across on the Repeater slide paths. We decided not to drop in and went for a lap on an east aspect of the Molars (thoroughly skied but still fun - see 2nd photo) and then had a nice ski out (surprisingly untracked in places). Before skiing we dug a pit on a SE aspect at 2,237m on a 32-degree slope (GPS coordinate of this MIN). We saw no results on an Extended Column Test and no results on a compression test. There were particularly distinct layers in the pit wall 60 and 80 cm down. The snow from these appeared facet-y under a loupe. We were not shocked. It snowed lightly throughout the afternoon and winds were moderate. This report may be redundant because Kicking Horse’s forecasters are providing data from so nearby. But they say you miss 100% of the MINs you don’t post.