London Ridge Update

AVCAN FORECASTER , Wednesday 22nd January, 2025 6:15PM

Right now, it’s all about the slab properties under your feet. If there’s a stiff slab, you’ve got a problem. If it’s soft snow, and not too steep, you’re likely good. We toured around London Ridge today under clear skies and great visibility. In the trees, the skiing was fast and fun, with cooler temps faceting the upper snowpack. Below treeline, we found a few layers in the upper 30 cm, including a thin crust and surface hoar, but no slab formation. At treeline, the story changes. Recent north winds have hammered exposed terrain. Near the ridge at 2000 m, we found the early January surface hoar 50 cm down, sitting above a thin crust. It didn’t react in our compression tests, but it’s unnerving to see the upper 50 cm move as a cohesive slab when levered. In the alpine, the wind effect is stronger—ridge tops are sastrugi-covered, north-facing slopes are stripped, and south-facing terrain has a firm crust. Low-angle east-facing slopes were the sweet spot, offering soft turns where recent cold temps have faceted the snow. Today was all about managing slope steepness and slab density above the early January weak layers. We stuck to low-angle terrain and avoided wind slabs, steering clear of steep alpine features. If you can do the same, there’s still some great skiing out there, even in the midst of this dry spell.