Blow Me Downs

Strong Westerly winds since our last visit to this area have moved a lot of snow, and left a lot of wind affected surface states. Heavy drifting, variable snow depths, surface slabs, exposed icy crusts, we saw it all without having to go too far. Excellent access into the hills from Frenchman’s Cove, with great riding to be had in the forest and protected areas. Snow bridges over streams and brooks were less supportive than they appeared, use caution when crossing. More small cornice failures since Wednesday, with one of them resulting in a small slab avalanche, likely in the last 24 to 48 hours. One of our test pits on a North East facing slope produced easy results, 20 cm deep with propagation. 1 finger density slab over Fist density loose snow. Pretty quick transitions from loose powder to soft slab, likely where you could have problems! Awesome to be in the mountains with a bit more visibility:)