Stormy Tree Triangle

Quick report

Weather

stormy, windy

Ride Type

denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

deepPowder, powder, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

Spent a couple of days at the Asulkan Cabin from 12/01-03. As the storm rolled in on 12/03, we experienced high winds and significant loading on lee aspects. Loaded snow had little cohesion in the early morning and was skiing well, but by noon the surface slab was tightening up and becoming reactive. Shooting cracks became constant in wind affected areas by early afternoon, and what had been small soft slabs earlier were now beginning to propagate more widely. We retreated to the trees for our final runs, where less wind affected snow was still skiing and behaving nicely.