Wild westerly winds

Quick report

northrockiesfieldteam · Jan 8, 2025 · Kootenay Boundary

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Observation photo 1Observation photo 2Observation photo 3

Quick report

Weather
cloudy, windy
Ride Type
denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes
Riding Quality
good
Snow Conditions
hard, powder, windAffected
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSound, avalancheConditionTemp

After a week of calm and cold, the wind and temperature increased significantly today. We saw blowing snow at ridge crests and watched wind slabs growing on easterly aspects. The wind slabs were easy to trigger and propagated far. This obvious warning sign of instability, along with a temperature increase to +2.5 at Treeline, made it an easy decision to stay off of large Alpine terrain. We returned to the sheltered trees where pockets of soft snow remained.

Weather

Avg Temp
2
Wind Speed
windSpeedStrong
Blowing Snow
intense
Sky Condition
overcast
Wind Direction
W
Temperature Trend
steady
Precipitation Type
none

Blowing snow at ridge crests. Westerly, windward, aspects looked striped down to rock and glacial ice. Lots of soft snow at tree line still available for transport. Strong winds TL and ALP. Moderate winds BTL