Death by crust

Map for Mountain Information Network report: Death by crust

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:
OK
Snow conditions were:
  • Crusty
  • Deep powder
  • Powder
  • Wind affected
We rode:
  • Alpine slopes
  • Mellow slopes
  • Open trees
We stayed away from:
  • Convex slopes
  • Steep slopes

Information

The day was:
  • Cloudy
  • Stormy
Avalanche conditions
  • Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
  • Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.
  • Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

Comments

Went up today thinking is was going to be a blower pow day, but ended with the most painful faceshots I’ve ever had. There was quite the freezing rain event for a couple of hours in the morning between 1500m and 2250m creating a widespread breakable crust on the surface of about 1cm thick. Enough to grab the sled skis and yank the handlebars out of my hands once in a while. About 20cm of fresh snow below the crust and about 5cm of fresh snow fell on top of the crust throughout the day. Signs of shooting cracks throughout the day and slabs failing off of small steep micro features. We kept it very tame today on slopes less than 20 degrees.