Whups, Whumpfing & a Wolverine

<p>A bumpy ride in to Hasler today, but at least it kept us warm in the -25C temps! The sun was out and if you were out of the wind it wasnt too bad up there. When we stepped off our sleds in a small meadow we felt a whumpf as a weak layer collapsed and saw some small cracks that had shot out along a south facing bank. We dug down and found the weak layer down 25cm - it was a spicy combo of surface hoar over a thin crust. The total snowpack on that slope was 120cm and we were at 1550m at treeline. Riding wasnt great as it hasnt snowed for a long time, but you could still find the odd stash of powder in the trees if you knew where to look. We got some small shooting cracks in a pocket of windslab in a north facing gully as well, but overall feel like wind slabs were not a major problem in the area. At the end of the day we saw a wolverine which made all the whupped trails, extreme cold and marginal riding more than worth it! </p>

Terrain Ridden

Open trees.

Avalanche Conditions

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Hard, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Cold, Windy, Sunny.