Adrift at Bijoux

Northerly winds from earlier this week had really shifted things around at Bijoux, leaving stiff wind slabs and tall drifts in unusual places. Walls of snow and small cornices were blocking the trail on south and west facing slopes far down into the trees. Meanwhile, the larger meadows and north facing slopes that usually get loaded have been scoured down to a hard surface of old tracks. This highly variable snow made breaking a trail to the alpine very difficult. We didn’t see any new avalanches but cracking and drum like sounds hinted that cold temperatures may be helping this slab linger as a problem.