Hustle your bustle up Russell

<p>After being shut down by windfalls last year, it was a delight to finally make it up to Mount Russell today. Snow on the Tlatlos had us sledding from the intersection with the Eden. We parked off to the side because they are busy hauling on the Eden, make sure you have your radio on and tuned in to RR 21. The road travel was easy all the way up to the cutblocks on the ridge. From there we jumped on our skis and scooted across the meadows and up the ridge. We dug a pit to look for the ice layer that has been on our mind from Mount Cain. We were pleased to find that the Feb 20 crust is a melt freeze crust at this location, not an ice crust, and the snow has a moderate bond, but is still producing hard sudden results in compression and extended column testing. This tells us it could still be problematic in isolated, steep features. In the sun the snow was getting wet down 5cm, and we saw plenty of pinwheeling and tree bombs. We climbed to the ridge and found a nice line down on the north side in the soft powder, a few transitions later and we were back at our sleds and headed out for the day. </p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Convex slopes, Dense trees, Mellow slopes, Open trees, Steep slopes, Sunny slopes.

Snow Conditions

Powder, Wet, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Sunny, Windy.