Rowe SW Corn Harvest

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty

We rode:

• Alpine slopes
• Convex slopes
• Dense trees
• Open trees
• Steep slopes
• Sunny slopes

The day was:

• Sunny
• Warm

Avalanche conditions

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

Harvested a crop of corn on the SE face of Mount Rowe this morning. Didn’t summit, dropped in around 2350m, but the summit is very approachable right now for you peak baggers out there.

There was a 2-3 inch supportive crust over ~50cms of snow at 1650m at 8am. The crust remained in the range of 3 inches during the ascent and by 10am was only beginning to warm up on direct southeast aspects. Directly south aspects remained fully re-frozen with a bulletproof crust at 2300m, and only began to deteriorate below 1900m after 10am.

Timing for a 10am drop in was perfect, or if anything slightly undercooked. Skiing from 2350m to 1850m was phenomenal buttery corn, improving in quality on the slightly steeper pitches. Below 1850m the crust was breaking down with heat and with the thinner snowpack made for some survival skiing back to the road.