Search for the Crust Line

Submitted by: northrockiesfieldteam
Observations date: Friday, January 16, 2026 at 18:00
Location: 53.415320° N 119.888240° W
Reporting on: Snow conditions

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:

Snow conditions were:

Crusty
Hard
Wind affected

We rode:

Alpine slopes
Convex slopes
Mellow slopes
Open trees
Steep slopes
Sunny slopes

Information

The day was:

Sunny

Comments

We headed to Tommy Creek to see if we could get above the crust and have a look. We found the line where the crust gives way to wind packed snow at 2260 m. Getting above the crust doesn't seem to make the riding much better though. The best snow was between 1700 & 2200 m where the crust was thinner over soft snow making for easy travel.

We noticed at treeline and below, there is new surface hoar growing over the crust, It's still small, but it could be a future problem on the horizon. We will be keeping a close eye on where it is forming and squashing as much of it as we can until more snow finally comes. For now, it's just great views and go anywhere travel in the lowered hazard!

We found the line where the crust transitions to dry, wind affected snow at 2260 m. Unfortunately, this was only 20 m below the ridge top...

Even with Low Hazard at treeline, we stuck to best practices and spaced out while travelling on larger slopes.

There were sparkling surface hoar crystals in the sheltered meadow around the weather station. We had to put up stakes to remind folks to please stay back 5 m from the station to not disturb the sensors.

Above the crust the snow was firm and wind packed, but between 1700 & 2300 m the crust was thin enough for some ok riding.