Rolling Hills Roopin'

Today the South Rockies team went for a braap in the Rolling Hills area. We intended on accessing from the Coal Creek trailhead however we were uncertain about driving higher up than the staging kiosk, and there was a lack of snow to ride right from valley bottom. We pivoted and accessed via the Morrissey upper staging, and signage was very clear on where to drive and park! There was about 5 minutes of low snow riding on the road before we hit good trail conditions the rest of the way! Our aim today was to assess surface snow conditions after last nights storm, and test the Persistent Slab problem in our snow pit again after some additional loading. Above 1500m there was 20-30 cm of new snow that had been redistributed by wind forming large cornices and drifts. We found the best riding in sheltered low angle lee slopes where the wind had stacked up a little extra snow! Windward aspects near ridgetops and open areas were largely stripped back to a firm crust. We were able to get storm slab results on small loaded test slopes with crown depths of 20-80 cm, and we observed a recent natural avalanche from a steep north facing lee slope at 2000m. This slope is a common performer near the Rolling Hills Cabin, see image. Below the recent snow there is a widespread 5-15cm crust on all aspects below 2000m. Our snowmobiles were not able to penetrate this crust. In our snow pit, we had moderate propagating results (ECTP 12), storm snow failing on crust/graupel down 25cm. We had no results (ECTX) on the Persistent Slab problem, however we were still able to identify preserved surface hoar buried 90 cm deep. In places where the crust is less supportive, human triggering of the Persistent Slab problem is still a concern. Overall a nice day out with some decent riding, and there is still plenty of fresh left in sheltered areas to enjoy some fun, supportive tree riding! We avoided steep wind loaded slopes, gave cornices a wide berth, and had a great day out in the hills!