Horse Creek Drainage

We toured up Horse Creek drainage to north facing near tree line terrain and found primarily wind-stiffened surfaces in exposed areas.

This week's low density snow had been redistributed into 1-4'' thick, punchy windboard.  We were able to produce cracking in these deposits when undercut by skin track. A few inches of low-density snow was sandwiched between recently formed windboard and and a stout underlying crust. Protected shady gullies still harbored a soft snow surface capped by a thinner wind skin at times.

SW winds were blowing moderate to strong near treeline and had partially filled in a skin track used by parties earlier in day. Snow was blowing around midday, scouring ridges, stiffening surfaces and loading pockets of terrain. 

Recents wind deposits produced cracking near treeline when under cut.