Southwest Gultch sled ride

Quick report

Weather

cold, sunny, cloudy

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees

Stayed Away

steepSlopes

Our first day in this area for the season. Access from Pike’s Ultramar was made easy from a big effort by The Gros Morne Co-Op, and local snowboarders. Cheers guys! We found 200+ centimetres of snow in forested areas around the Japan Trees, much fuller than the previous couple seasons. A widespread surface crust (1-5 cm) over a well settled upper snowpack, has reduced avalanche hazard, as well as ski conditions. Excellent coverage in the South West Gulch Valley made for smooth and fast travel. Ridgetop cornices looked particularly overhanging and menacing today. Expect them to wake up with our next warm spell. We found surface hoar in protected areas as well as more open areas. Will be keeping our eyes open for this potential weak layer once it gets buried. Awesome to see full winter conditions in the Tablelands, setting up for a solid spring season!