Still winter up high

coqstoke , Monday 29th April, 2024 11:25PM

We spent 4/27 to 4/29 at the Brian Waddington Hut. We drove until Phelix Creek FSR forks into Phelix Creek East (parked right before the 2nd bridge over Phelix Creek). The approach was a mix of bootpacking and skinning. Ski crampons are recommended as trail is icy. We had the hut to ourselves. Lake was frozen and coverage at the hut was amazing. It snowed consistently 4/27-4/28. This snow fell on a supportive crust. We skied all aspects and noticed wind slab on N slopes around ridgecrest. We triggered a 0.5 wind slab on a N aspect - it was about 10cm deep and ran on the underlying crust. On 4/29, the clouds cleared and we had 25cm of dry snow on the supportive crust. We triggered multiple loose dry (sluffs). These were generally slow moving and did not pose danger to riders as we were not near any terrain traps. We suspect the snow will continue to form wind slabs on ridgecrest. For the ski back down to the car, we recommend boot crampons due to icy trail conditions. Enjoy the fresh snow!