Lower Gin Peak

<p>Out leading a splitboarding trip with the UBC VOC. Around mid-morning, we moved from the 'below treeline' to 'treeline' elevation band, and the snow became much drier and wind-affected. We decided to hike up the slopes south of the lake, and noticed some wind-effects as we ascended. Atop our line, I dug a test pit to ID potential weaknesses, and we found sudden shears after easy loading on a layer buried 15cms deep and was propagating fully across the column. Further weaknesses were observed, but were all resistant and buried deeper, and were not propagating across the column. With this info, we decided to ski atop ridge crests and ride mellow, straight slopes to mitigate the hazard. There was really dry, awesome pow shots above treeline riding down to the lake. Winter's not over everyone!</p>

Terrain Ridden

Mellow slopes, Dense trees, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Convex slopes, Steep slopes, Sunny slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Rapid temperature rise to near zero degrees or wet surface snow.

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Wet, Wind affected, Powder.

Weather Conditions

Warm, Cloudy, Sunny.