A crusty trip to Helena Ridge

Quick report

Weather

cold, sunny

Ride Type

sunnySlopes, mellowSlopes, openTrees, denseTrees

Snow Conditions

windAffected, crusty, powder

We toured up to Helena Ridge from Rockbound Lake parking. Coverage on the trail to Rockhound Lake was really good, and there was soft powder through the treeline, but pretty wind affected in the alpine. We went up a west/southwest aspect that was scoured with visible or just hidden rocks, and skied down a more south facing aspect which provided much softer and deeper snow, but still with a pretty solid wind crust. There was recent size 1 natural avalanche activity from the gullies over the back, mainly east facing, but otherwise the snow felt secure with not many signs of instability, maybe because there wasn't all that much of it