Conditions in Crowsnest

Great conditions in the Crowsnest Pass today. We staged at Atlas and rode past the sled cabin near Smith Creek into one of the bowl feature along the Divide. Avalanche Summary - No new avalanche activity was observed but visibility was poor into the alpine. We suspect isolated wind slabs are building at all elevations, as new snow and previous soft snow was being redistributed by the moderate southwest wind with strong gusts. Snowpack Summary - We dug a profile at 2050 m, treeline feature facing west. There was 200 cm of total snow depth which is at the upper end of the snowpack depths for this area. There was 10 cm of new snow accumulated in the past 24 hours. This new snow overlies 50 cm of settled soft snow that fell last Saturday - Monday. The mid-pack is well-consolidated and sits on the January drought layer that was down 105 cm in this area. This layer is made up of facets that continue to the ground. The facets are gaining some strength and bonding together slowly. Our snowpack tests results: Extended column test - No result, Compression Test Hard - 24, Resistant Planer, down 45 cm on a preserved stellar layer, Deep Tap Test on Jan drought Layer - No result Weather Summary - Snowing roughly 1 cm an hour intermittently. Moderate southwest wind with strong gusts. Mild temperatures of -2.5 °C at 2000 m, mostly overcast.