Hard wind slab in Crowsnest

Map for Mountain Information Network report: Hard wind slab in Crowsnest

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:
OK
Snow conditions were:
  • Hard
  • Wind affected

Information

The day was:
  • Cold

Comments

Today in the Crowsnest Pass we found a hard wind slab on open terrain features at all elevations. The depth of the wind slab varied from 5 to 20 cm and we suspect they could be up to 30 cm in the Alpine lee's.

We avoided open terrain features where we found drum-like sounding snow. This hard wind slab sits on a faceted layer with a hard wind-pressed surface below.

Cold temperatures will keep this setup a bit tricky for a while.