COLD Day at Clemina Creek

The arctic air was well in place when we woke up to -17 C in Blue River this morning. We slowly made our way up to the goat ridge bowl at 2000 m. Our objective was to continue gathering data on the distribution of the surface hoar layer responsible for numerous large avalanches at the end of the previous storm a week ago. We found it down 50 cm at 2100 m.(upper treeline). The layer appears to be gaining strength in the areas we observed today but may remain possible to human trigger on steep, open glades at treeline elevations. Our primary concern today was the cold temperatures (-24 C at 2100 m.) and we rode very conservatively to reduce the potential for injury.