Paddy Peak zone.

Riding quality was:

Good

Snow conditions were:

• Powder
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Cold
• Sunny

We headed inland today for a ski tour in the paddy peak zone. The inversion continues, with -27c in the valley and -15c in the alpine. We had clear skies, no wind and the sun was out and packing a punch. We left the valley in down jackets and were shedding layers pretty quickly.

In sheltered features, 10cm of low density snow covers old wind pressed surfaces. The skiing is variable and a mixture of powder on wind pressed surfaces or wind pressed with no powder. Old avalanche debris is softening nicely. Boot packing steeper tree line features it is still possible to punch through the wind packed snow and wallow in sugary facets.

We were comfy stepping out into more committing terrain features today and testing steeper features produced no signs of instability.

Despite the low temps, the skiing is still really good in sheltered areas.