Montana Bowl: calm and stable

Riding quality was:

Good

Snow conditions were:

• Heavy
• Powder

We rode:

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

The day was:

• Sunny
• Warm

Avalanche conditions

• 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Route: Afternoon tour of Montana Bowl. Uptrack from Stoke Lift, partial ascent of Mackenzie via SE ridge, traverse along ridge towards Goat Peak; then descent along the mellow bowl and then steeper trees to the lower traverse back to in bounds at Fast Freds.

Descent: In Alpine; largely skied ~20' slopes; with some pitches of ~35' coming off Mackenzie and then into Montana bowl. Treeline and below treeline included pitches from 10' to 35'. All on S or SE aspects.

Snowpack: Minimal signs of instability throughout the day on a variety of descent angles across Alpine, Treeline, and Below Treeline. No cracks or whumpfs; no slabs (either self-triggered or observed above us). The first layer in the snow we could feel was on average approx 50-60cm deep (based on a pole test; no pits dug).

Skiing conditions: generally very good. Deep and consistent snow as you would expect post-storm, albeit a little heavy. Minimal wind affect in Montana Bowl, but significant wind scouring on Mackenzie Southern aspect.

Weather: generally calm conditions. Some light blowing snow observed on Mackenzie and Goat Peak, but nothing on the ridge into Highway Bowl. Very sunny, with minimal cloud cover throughout the day.