Sproatt

Riding quality was:

Good

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty
• Powder
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Mellow slopes

We stayed away from:

• Convex slopes
• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Sunny
• Windy

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
• 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.
• Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Overnight natural cycle in the alpine and at exposed treeline - numerous size 1-1.5 wind slabs on N and NE aspects. Crowns were slightly blown in and some debris had a skiff of snow on it.

Southerly winds were gusting into the moderate range at ridge top. Previous winds have loaded northerly aspects and scoured exposed southerly aspects to a crust from early Feb. The bed surface of some of the small wind slab avalanches was this crust.

We observed a few whumpfs in open but sheltered areas below treeline. We saw a few cracks between tracks but the ~40cm of recent snow seems to be bonding to the crust.

Skinning in mature forest is still quite challenging (only a small amount of of low density snow over the crust), but the skiing up high in sheltered areas is quite good.