First ascent of Andromeda Strain, first time in Fraser gravel pit

<p>A few Yukon U students started their avalanche education journey this week with a huge figure of Canadian alpinism, who was visiting White Pass for the first time from Canmore, AB. After a windy scenic drive down the South Klondike we set up in the Fraser area for a rigorous morning of companion rescue practice. We observed moderate to strong northerly winds at ridgetop transporting significant snow off Fraser ridge and depositing it on SE aspects all morning - and at times possibly sublimating rather than actively loading immediate lee features. Skies were blue and temps hovered around -10 in the morning at roadside. The wind dropped in the pm and our study site on a solar aspect warmed to an air temp of -5 C - not only unexpected but we started to see some solar input on surface snow quite quickly as the Yukon moves gradually into spring. HS was 150 in our study plot in a relatively shallow snowpack in sheltered, low elevation, low angle, treeline terrain near the bottom of the Fraser chutes. We found 40cm of fist density snow overlying nearly 50cm of 4f+ slab on top of a decomposing facet / sh layer, on top of a pencil-hard crust. Beneath the crust was sugar snow to the ground. A CT yielded hard (24) but planar results on the basal facets with an additional irregular break in the slab above the crust. Backed up by the Av Can team & Yukon heli's aerial pictures of large na avalanches in the alpine, we concluded that our region still has a persistent problem that should be well-minded as we transition into spring conditions and the snowpack continues to adjust. </p>

Terrain Ridden

Mellow slopes, Open trees, Sunny slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Convex slopes, Steep slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Snow Conditions

Powder, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Sunny.