Powder Sanctuary on Paddy E3

Quick report

Weather

warm, foggy

Ride Type

convexSlopes, openTrees, alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

deepPowder, windAffected, powder, crusty

Paddy E3 has the goods to make you very happy and very sore! Today winds were light in the morning and picked up after lunch. The temperature around -10 thought out the day. Our morning started bluebird but as we moved into the alpine at noon clouds began to roll in. Following them was a layer of fog covering the upper part of the mountain. Snow conditions seem to be much different from the pass on this given day. The peak provides protection to the bowl and the northern slope. From 4500ft to 6300ft snow was champagne powder varying from 15 down lower to 60cm up high. Plenty of face shots to be had! Below 4500ft is a complete mixed bag of sugar like snow with no consolation to concrete and everything in-between. I only took one probe though out the day at the base of the bowl and the snowpack was well over the length of my probe at 255cm. No signs of instability we're found on our way up onto the ridge. The consolidated snowpack showed no signs of weakness at all elevations. The powder sitting on top of the dense snowpack had not seen any wind effect at all which was our biggest concern. As we bailed on our plan ski one of the couliors due to fog. We took the prominent ridge down the face and dropped on the lower edge of the bowl/ sanctuary. At the base of the bowl we oggled over the endless line choices and also noticed a crown from a previous slide. Approx 30cm in-depth and 150ft in width size 1 possibly 2. No signs of debris. Must have been covered with new snow. The slope angle was rough between 30 and 35 deg. On the west-facing side of the bowl.