Not much of a fuss-le at Russell

AvCan Vancouver Island , Thursday 22nd February, 2024 4:30PM

We began our day testing our luck up the South Main with hopes of skiing Jagged Mt. About 2 km up the road we were turned around by deadfall. It’s always good have a plan B, especially on the island. So we crossed the valley and made our first trip of the year to Mt Russel. Once again were able to drive higher than a typical season, staging around 800 m. Roads were covered in <20 cm of snow in shaded areas, bare ground on solar aspects. It was great to see the meadow totally tracked out by sleds! We parked there and skinned up the ridge to 1300 m from there. Surface was wet snow in most places, thin breakable crust in the shade. Generally the snowpack is similar to what we’ve been seeing recently, just thinner up north. Base is 100-160 cm. Air temp was 6 degrees at 1300 hrs. Spring like skiing on the way down. Shout out to Brian for getting after it and representing with swag!