3 Guardsmen N Face

AlexWray , Saturday 20th April, 2024 10:00PM

On Friday we skied the north face of 3 Guardsmen, including a couloir on the NW ridge. Snow conditions on the face was quite powdery, with a very thin sun crust forming though the day. The couloir (NE facing) was highly variable, with a mix of punchy wind slab, or facets to ground. On our ascent, before committing up the face, we dug a quick pit at 1410m (N aspect). We found 300cm of snow, and no concerning layers within the top 100. Approx. 25cm of more recent snow overlayed older compacted grains. A couple tests yielded: - ECTX - CTH25 (PC) down25 (this was the interface between the more recent and older snow.) We observed widespread naturals (wet loose and wet slab) on solar aspects, appearing less than 24 hours old.