Powderama Ridge

Long day trip to Panorama Ridge. The day started off with blue sky and light and dry powder. The effect of the sun on the snow could be felt instantly. Throughout the day clouds dominated, but the sun got moments to peak out. Snow on the ridges was wind affected and formed wind slabs. Wind features could be seen on the western slope of the panorama ridge. Cornices are big all along the northern ridge line of Panorama ridge with some debris deposits below. Skin penetration was variable almost zero on ridge tops and up to 20cm in the meadows - we broke trail starting from Taylor meadows. No avalanches seen. Hasty pits on the ridge produced easy shear at variable depth of 30 to 50cm likely due to a melt freeze crust. We decided to ski a more mellow section due to this observation. We observed pinwheeling at the entrance to the barrier as the sun was peaking out in the late afternoon. Therefore we skied on the trail. Snow was heavy but plenty, allowing us to ski between the trees between switchbacks. Generally snowpack appears higher compared to recent years. Snow bridges over creeks are thin- we ran into a hiker who broke through.