Columnar/Gargoyles/Elfin lakes

Quick report

Weather

sunny, cold, foggy, cloudy

Ride Type

openTrees, alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes, denseTrees, sunnySlopes

Stayed Away

steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder, windAffected

Stayed at Elfin lakes Sat Feb 6 - Mon Feb 8. Skied SE aspects on Columnar and Gargoyles and some trees runs on N/NE slopes from Elfin lakes. No signs of instability aside from sluffing on steep E aspects of Columnar which likely resulted from tree bombs off the ridge. Some tree bombs rolled down S facing slopes off Gargoyles leaving big pinwheels which froze hard. Dug several quick pits on SE slopes. HS 185-200 cm. On CTs from Sunday Feb 7 CTE 7-8, down 10 cm, CTM 18, down 35cm. Failures were RP or uneven breaks. No results on the hard MFcr layer which was down 85cm. Pits all around 1750m. SE slopes were slightly wind swept from S winds. Visibility was variable, with fog rolling in on both Sunday and Monday and periods of light snow on both days. Temps on Saturday were around -5C, and down to -15C Sunday-Monday. Light S winds through the weekend.