Hudson Bay - AST 1 Course obs

<p>We toured west of the skihill for an AST 1 fieldtrip today. The day started with very light winds, which ramped up to moderate-strong from the west towards days end with significant transport observed into Alpine lee features. There was 5cm of new snow from the last 24hrs, and temperatures hovered around -3c. In sheltered terrain, the recent new snow from the weekend has settled with the warmer temperatures since the weekends storm. With increased slab properties, we found a weakness where the new snow sits on the colder, sugary faceted snow from the cold snap. This produced a failure in an Extended Column Test down 35cm. We also saw cracking in recent windslabs. We observed a recent fracture line on a steep, windloaded ,east facing alpine terrain, that in poor light appeared to be a size 1.5-2. Otherwise, the majority of open Alpine terrain is heavily wind affected.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Mellow slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Powder, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Windy.