Touchy Montana

Quick report

Weather

stormy, windy

Ride Type

denseTrees, openTrees

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

Route: Lapped Montana trees three times; keeping out of the alpine; away from the overhead hazard of Mackenzie, and largely below treeline. Skiing conditions: Really good skiing below treeline; shin to waist deep powder and plenty of untracked lines. More open areas in the treeline were heavily wind affected which made for variable skiing. Snowpack and avalanche: Significant snow transport with the wind made for variable conditions; with the snowpack becoming less stable and touchy in treeline. Whilst skinning we triggered a small windslab (50cm crown; ~5m width; ~10m run out to a clump of trees) on a convex microfeature in what is usually a heavily skied ~20' angle slope at treeline. No obs of alpine - avoided entirely given the conditions. Weather: Heavy snow and very strong winds all day; significant snow transport in exposed areas. Summary: A good day to ski the trees!