Lookout col

Climbed to Lookout col and descended south into Asulkan valley. Day was variably cloudy with some light-mod snowfall earlier in the day. Visibility improved as the day went on. Winds were fairly calm with some periodic gusts up top. We dug a pit on a S aspect near the col at 2160m (see snowpack section). We were cognizant of a cohesive 45cm of snow above the crust but the snow wasn’t showing any signs of instability and felt quick solid and supportive on our descent into Asulkan

10cm of fist pow and 35cm of 1F snow sat atop the crust layer which was 45cm down. This is shallower than what has been reported but may be due to our pit location at the col which would have been exposed to the recent strong South winds. The snow below the crust seemed well settled and bonded. Our column failed on tap 25 with half the block failing in sudden planar, the rest breaking irregularly.