Needle Peak - ridge walk

<p>Snow at the trailhead was hard and crunchy, very consolidated feeling, skis did not sink in at all (1205m elevation). Skin track up to the ridge was hard-packed, trees did not have snow on them as we gained elevation. Snowpack felt hard-packed under our skis but softened as we ascended. No winds at all, clear skies. Stopped for a snack on the ridge, found lots of exposed surface rocks and other surfaces with 1-5 cm snow depth. Continued up the ridge and found that the snow was hard-packed but soft on the surface at 1 pm when I was at my max elevation for the day of 1748m. Probed to measure snow depth on the skin track at the GPS coordinates of this report, found a snow depth of approx 190cm. The weather was warm and sunny the whole day. Found softer snow on the eastern aspect of the ridge on the way back down. On the way down snow felt stable and we did not get any reaction from ski cutting. Skied back down in what turned out to be tight trees, the snow felt stable and secure and was heavier and more hard-packed feeling as we descended down to the trailhead where it was very hard-packed at the trailhead.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Mellow slopes, Dense trees, Sunny slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Steep slopes.

Snow Conditions

Heavy, Wet, Hard, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Warm, Sunny.