Alpine wind effect

ngottlieb , Saturday 18th March, 2023 5:10PM

Nice powder skiing below about 1200m with preserved soft snow down to 700m in well-shaded areas (though that latter number may be rising after today's warmth). Mix of hard and soft wind-affected surfaces above there. The softer deposits (on the lee side of subfeatures) were unreactive and seemed to be faceting to some degree with a couple of clear nights in the last few days. The hard wind slabs varied in firmness and thickness but sit on unconsolidated snow that felt like facets (though we did not do a close inspection). One member of our group triggered a size 1.5 (pictured) hard slab while skinning across a convexity that broke just below the skin track about 4" deep.