AST2 course Rossiter ski

Quick report

Weather

sunny

Ride Type

cutBlocks, denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees, sunnySlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

deepPowder, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

We went out with the mindset of gathering information about the snow conditions and to make safe terrain choices for skiing. Small slab avalanches on banks next to the road were triggered easily below tree line. Isolated whoomphing and cracking were observed in isolated areas below tree line. We observed in the distance a few small storm slab avalanches up to size 1.5 at and below tree line. Snow pit results on the South aspect at 1850 meters: Extended column test gave us a partial crack after 12 taps, down 33 cm on the January 30th surface hoar/crust layer. At 16 taps, a partial crack down 55 cm on the January 7th surface hoar/crust/facets layer. Our compression test same layers gave sudden planer results, on moderate 12 and 15 taps. December 6th layer failed on a deep tap test on a moderate 15 taps. Sun shine more than expected for most of the day and we observed some radiant warming. Had some amazing turns down through deep pow and mellow terrain. "Sparkly snow and spicey slabs"

Snowpack

Depth

185

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

S, SE, SW, W

Test Fracture

sudden

Site Elevation

1800

Ski Penetration

25

Test Initiation

moderate

Foot Penetration

75

Cracking Observed

1

Test Failure Depth

33

Site Elevation Band

btl

Surface Conditions

crust, facets, surfaceHoar

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

facets, surfaceHoar