Red Cone

Group of 3 skied the east slope of Red Cone, then took a second lap following the north ridge down towards Horseshoe Lake. Our observations were pretty similar to what has been shared thus far since the last snow fall, specifically from Red Cone… low tide is still in, and since the recent winds there are wind scoured summits and ridge lines as far as the eye can see. Towards the summit ridge, at around 10,200’ on the North-eastern aspect, snow depth was over 120cm. At that elevation, the snow surface was rather wind packed and crusty. We decided to descend from there as the true summit was down to dirt and looked uncomfortably windy. Once in the trees below 10,200’, the snow was powdery and pretty fun skiing! Though still had to be mindful of rocks and branches trying to grab at ya. Numerous hand pits along the ascent and descents found fresh unconsolidated snow sitting above a wind crust layer towards the base of the snowpack - this was observed throughout most of the snowpack above 9400’. In the trees on a northern aspect at around 9800’, some small shooting cracks were observed on a slope of about 40°. These cracks only split out a few feet from the skier, and were the only signs of instability noted. No pit was dug. Weather was cloudy in the morning and opened up to pretty bluebird skies around noon. The wind was increasing out of the West as the day went on, and seemed to be shifting South-westerly in the afternoon. The skin tracks are well established and it was overall a great day out.

Quick report