Missile Ridge SE

<p>17cm of fresh snow at the pass got us pretty excited to check it out! The day started very cloudy as we made our way up to cornice ridge. We only encountered one other group all day. They were heading down cornice ridge in search of more visibility. We chose not to drop into the NW side of cornice due to lack of visibility. Instead we chose a conservative path north to the saddle and then west to make our way to missile ridge through mellow trees. We made our way up missile ridge and visibility had improved. But after conducting an ECT with a result on the Jan 25 SH layer (ECTP 24) we chose to avoid steep open terrain and instead opted for lower angle trees. The riding was good but variable. 17cm of snow with some areas of wind loaded pockets and scouring in other areas. There was a very firm and slick wind affected slab beneath the fresh snow which provided the main complication for riding and skinning. </p>

Terrain Ridden

Mellow slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Steep slopes.

Snow Conditions

Powder.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Foggy.