Five Mile - Whitewater
Quick reportallenclimbs · Mar 3, 2017 · North Rockies
Quick report
- Weather
- stormy, windy, cloudy, foggy
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes, denseTrees, steepSlopes
- Stayed Away
- alpineSlopes, convexSlopes
- Riding Quality
- Good
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, heavy, windAffected, powder
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSnow
Very windy day in the backcountry near Whitewater. Wind seemed to be blowing from every direction including uphill :) I would say gusts were close to 50kms/hr at least
Weather
The wind was blowing very hard in valley bottom in the Five Mile drainage. East, west uphill and all around. The only slopes that didn't seem to be getting hit were high up steep north facing trees. A small rhyme or thin pencil crust was forming near ridge tops and valley bottoms with the rhyme being blown around. No freezing rain was observed. And snow was starting to fall heavier by 230pm.
Snowpack
Recent storm snow was not very reactive where we skied today (north, trees) but the storm slab was starting to get deeper and touchier in places due to the wind and temperature, especially on south and west facing terrain where the wind was howling. Settlements and wind slab forming. The layer of note/concern we found was down 100cm and had sudden planar characteristics. Definitely on the radar with the loading happening right now.