Groundhog day in the Wheaton

Riding quality was:

Good

Snow conditions were:

• Powder

We rode:

• Dense trees
• Mellow slopes
• Open trees

We stayed away from:

• Alpine slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Stormy
• Warm

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

When life gives you lemons (road closures), make lemonade (go to the Wheaton. Again). Summary of obs from a sled AST field day: Nice start to the day with temps in the -5C range not far above the valley floor. South wind picked up early pm and light-moderate snow started mid-afternoon. Riding conditions remain variable with a very soft wind slab underlain by increasingly large facets, depth hoar and willows. Worth going out in any case.

Our group triggered a very small size 1 on a small steep feature, but otherwise found no signs of instability. Another group shared a pic of a size 1.5 triggered on a south aspect. From today, but we're unsure who/how on the trigger. 15-20cm crown and it broke a few 4" diameter green trees.