Kitselas Mtn./Usk/March 14

Ski toured up the looker's right east facing avy path on Kitselas Mountain today. This very unique ski tour began and ended with pleasant 7 minute gondola ride across the Skeena River, elevation 300 feet, a.s.l. Topped out at the summit, +/- 5000 feet 6 hours later after a healthy balance of walking, hiking, bootpacking, sliding sideways and upside down with skinned skis on steep hard based sidehills and sometimes just regular old uphill skinning in friendly terrain. Found 5-10 cms of HN increasing with elevation. Mod to strong gusty south quadrant winds near and at ridgecrest continued to build reactive new snow windslabs over older non reactive buried windslabs in east aspect cross loaded and northeast aspect lee features. Generally small pockets at treeline, didn't stick our necks out in the alpine to find out what would pop there. Depths ranged from 10-30 cms. Ski pen up to 30 cms in protected BTL pitches. Lots of power sluffing running fast in 40-45 degree + terrain with one size 1 thin windslab on a steep 38 degree convex roll below treeline. Temperature crust up to 2300 feet beneath 5-10 cm of new snow and carried well throughout the day. Temps ranged from -4.2 degrees at 2200 feet to -8 at the top...aside from the geothermal vent hole which pumped out air measuring a scorching +7.2 degrees!