Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Cooper, Owen, and I made our way up the Gulf of Slides trail just after 9am. We were all surprised by the amount of low-density snow that had already fallen in the parking lot (~7cm) and the rate it was continuing to fall. Up higher where we split off from the GOS trail to access the Boott Spur Fingers there was closer to 15cm of snow on the ground and little wind observed. After sinking to our waists during a failed bootpack attempt, we found skinning necessary to move through the steep gully. Around 12:30 pm the clouds began to break and by 1:30 pm the sky was mostly clear with increasing moderate winds, where we observed snow blowing off tree branches for the first time. Around 4600ft Owen observed a small shooting crack under his skis while breaking trail. We dug a quick SE facing pit at 4715ft in an open area in the trees next to the gully we had climbed. The height of snow was 160cm. We did an extended column test and observed ECTP22 @120cm (40cm down from the surface).
Weather
- Recent Snowfall
- 15cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Low density snow was falling at a light to moderate rate as we left the parking lot just after 9am. Little to no winds observed on the skin up the Gulf of Slides trail. Around 12:30 pm the clouds began to break and by 1:30 pm the sky was mostly clear with increasing moderate winds.