Wintery Day at Chappell Creek

Very wintery day in the alpine today. Temps at 0 in the valley bottom and -6 at 2100m 1300hrs. Winds were quite variable but primarily from the south west gusting to moderate. Open areas in alp were wind slabbed or pressed, with extensive surface transport to the lee areas. Treeline riding gave the best times. 290cms of snow at upper treeline. Too foggy and windy to travel much or to be exposed so we took in mellow in open trees. Quick test at 2100m on southern treeline asp has 25cms of very low density snow sitting on top of two 1cm crusts that were failing in the low end of moderate during compression tests. This will cause concern when the snow on top turns into a slab or if a windslab grows on this weak interface. Thick rain crust to 1800m on the access trailside.