Bow hut & Jimmy Jr

cmurrayschlitt , Friday 31st January, 2025 10:15PM

2 nights at bow hut. On Wednesday winds were strong all day. Rough travel conditions, snow heavily wind scoured with lots of sastrugi and many rocks showings. Sheltered areas were faceted and unsupportive. Probed average of 150cm on the toe of the glacier. Observed 2 windslabs on steep crossloaded southern alpine features entraining facets and running far. We abandoned plans for Mt Gordon due to whiteout conditions on Thursday. Snow began Thursday morning and continued into Friday accumulating to 10cm at the hut, in lee areas below Bow hut we found 20cm deep soft windslabs cracking to 3m from skis and running easily on underlying surfaces. Skied out from the hut on Friday finding 5-10cm of low density new snow and light winds. Generally improved ski quality, but you still feel the hard surfaces beneath and many rocks thinly buried. We stopped for a lap of Jimmy Jr in the afternoon and found 10-15cm of soft snow making for good turns.