Observation: Cardiff Fork

Travel was up from the Alta Guard Station, Cardiff Pass, Cardiac and out BCC. I was a bit surprised by the strong S winds in the AM which basically erased any thoughts of skiing Cardiac Ridge or the Bowl and when we got to the pass and had a look at them decided there was no reason being that they were wind jacked and slabby. The wind was moving snow way down into the bottom of the drainage forming cornices on features that never regularly have them. Some of the drifts were easy to crack out on steeper slopes. Down lower in more protected terrain the warm temperatures were the enemy making the snow thick and somewhat inverted, and straight up gooey on the lower S, SE, and SW. With no cold clear nights in the next few days the snow will not recrystallize and remain stagnant, and slabby. On the other hand it’s good base building snow and the warm temperatures should speed up stabilization.

Photos: wind moving snow in Cardiac and Maybird, wind damage, cornice formation in the bottom of the drainage

As if the wind had not already damaged all the slopes in upper Cardiac enough it continued to crank out of the S today further damaging basically all the terrain in the alpine. The words windjacked, inverted, slabby and sustrugi all come to mind.