East Ridge Jan 16

Skied out the East Ridge via the Dome today. Springlike in a weak temperature inversion, with a variety of snow surface conditions today. Wind was mostly calm, and very light on ridgetops with easterly exposure. Trailbreaking was easy and travel was fast. A thin layer (< 5 cm) of recent snow was wind-affected where exposed to easterly wind. Refrozen rain-affected surface snow was nicely skiable. Solar radiation was having a minor affect on steeper S and SW aspects by late afternoon, but not yet strong enough to initiate melt/freeze conditions at alpine elevations where we were today. The best skiing quality was on aspects free of wind or solar affect, and where there was no debris from the recent widespread avalanche cycle. Noteworthy avalanche activity in the Zymacord/East Ridge area from that cycle were slabs released from the top of Zymbuk-1 and just below Little Man Couloir, multiple deposits covering most of Dark Side, and several slabs observed in non-typical SW aspect locations near treeline. No new avalanches were observed today. Overall, skiing quality was good for "spring", and better than expected!