Mt Fernie Backside

Riding quality was:

OK

Snow conditions were:

• Heavy
• Wet

We rode:

• Alpine slopes
• Dense trees
• Open trees

We stayed away from:

• Steep slopes
• Sunny slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Foggy
• Stormy
• Wet
• Windy

Avalanche conditions

• Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

Headed up to the Mt. Fernie ridgeline via the Alpine Trails access road in mixed weather (rain, snow, clouds). Hand shears on the skin track at upper elevations (1800-2000 m) found soft, consistent snow (10-20 cm) sitting on a dense crust.

Rode mellow N and NE aspect slopes from ridgeline before any warming occurred; no signs of instability and good turns to be found. Below treeline (approx. 1600 m; later in the day), small LW avalanches (size 1) could be triggered on small, steep, microterrain features. Snow was very wet and heavy by 1400 m in the valley.