Pass the Pine

We headed into Bijoux with a list of questions: how much storm snow had fallen, where was the freezing level , and were wind slabs still active? The forecast had called for a significant overnight snowfall, yet the nearest weather stations recorded only about 5  cm. In this case the stations were right, and we quickly regretted not bringing the sled mudflaps. Around 1300 m the snowpack transitioned from moist to dry. At 1400 m we found merely 10 cm of snow in the sheltered features. Open areas had been wind effected the past few days and north‑to‑east facing slopes had signs of loading. In the sheltered and lee BTL where we were riding, we saw no obvious slab characteristics in the snowpack. However, higher up, where the wind had been stronger, we suspected wind slabs were still an avalanche problem to avoid.