Lane Basin

We joined the parade of snowmachines and headed out Archangel Valley today, mostly in hopes of dusting off our rusty skills for the season. Below about 2200' there is noticeably less new snow and the surface below that elevation is capped with a crust from a fluctuating rain line from the recent storm system. Above about 2500' the snow gets a lot deeper and drier and riding conditions improve greatly. We were able to take advantage of the wonderful visibility and plentiful snow to get a little throttle therapy and get used to being back in the saddle. Widespread natural activity and wind effect from the storm cycle was evident. A couple of hasty hand pits in drifted areas revealed some dense snow reluctantly failing on small facets but this layering did not appear reactive to the numerous snowmachiners side-hilling or highmarking. 

We dug a couple of hasty hand pits but mostly kept our snowpack observations focused on how snowmachine riders were interacting with all the new snow. We experienced no red flags and saw nor heard of any riders triggering slides or encountering instabilities.