Black Tusk

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty
• Hard
• Wind affected

The day was:

• Sunny

Quick recap: hiked to one of the subpeaks of the Black Tusk (listed as "Black Tusk S1" on some maps) on March 23. A very hard, icy, wind-affected crust was present throughout the treeline and alpine. No signs of instability on our route up to 2100m.

Detailed recap:

Conditions were M/L/L for the day, and weather was mostly sunny. Snow/ice started halfway up the Rubble Creek trail to Taylor Meadows campground. 3-5cm of light snow on top of a hard crust throughout the entire meadows. We could easily walk on top of the crust without breaking through.

Because of the forecast wind slab problem on all slopes except S/SW, we did not take the normal summer trail that curls around the east side of Black Tusk S1. Instead, we approached from the S/SW slope, going up the slopes between Black Tusk SW1 and Black Tusk S1. The entire ascent had a hard crust (likely owing to the rain/wind from last week). Around 1900-2000 meters and above, protected areas had more snow than ice, but still on a firm crust. For the final 50-100m ascent, we stayed well clear of the large cornices on the north side of the ridge/subpeak.

Overall, perfect conditions for hiking, and likely terrible for skiing.

Picture 1: Panorama Ridge in the foreground; Castle Towers, The Sphinx, etc. in the background. Signs of cornice failures/avalanche activity throughout.

Picture 2: Typical snow/ice conditions we experienced on the ascent/descent. Very hard crust.

Picture 3: View of the Black Tusk from the south subpeak/Black Tusk S1 (around 2100m elevation). As expected, lots of cornices, wind-affected terrain, etc.