Northwest shoulder, Three Guardsmen

<p>Went for a relaxed tour up the north shoulder of Guardsmen above the new weather station in an area with minimal wind effect (shoulder blocking us from southwest wind was crusty and windblown while the terrain we were on was protected) and quite good powder as seen in photo. Dug a pit to the ground, noticed no significant layers other than sugary base layer. Measured depth to be on average about a metre, deeper in spots, much shallower in others. Snow passed compression test with no give at any point which was awesome to see! We got in some beautiful turns in flat light! HOWEVER, NOTICE PHOTOS 2 AND 3: I hiked up beside the road on a small east facing slope to ski one quick line. Snow appeared to be wind affected/crusty but I didn't hear whumphing or notice any extreme cracking as I was skinning up. As I was taking off skins on flat above both the face I was going to ski (photo 3) and the area through which I had skinned (photo 2) slabbed at about a foot deep, clearing the slopes of the wind crust layer. Still skied the line though!</p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Mellow slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Steep slopes.

Snow Conditions

Wind affected, Powder.

Weather Conditions

Cold, Cloudy.