Pastoral and Bertha Creek Drainage

We toured out to Pastoral, down into Bertha Creek, and then back up and over to our car. Overall, we found great conditions along the entire tour, with good snow holding on all aspects. While heading toward Pastoral, it was evident that recent winds had blown in ski tracks in the upper half of the bowl. However, while traveling on the upper slopes the snow remained soft until just below the saddle, where it had crusted over from the wind. While it was not quite warm enough for loose wet avalanches, in Goldpan we observed a thin sun crust on due south aspects that was beginning to break down in the afternoon heat. Additionally, in the Goldpan Valley the snowpack was noticeably different.  We did not experience instability but multiple hand pits and pole probes showed that just below the surface there was a facet factory, with 1–2 mm faceted snow falling out of our quick pit walls. While this was a bit concerning, there was not a cohesive slab atop these faceted grains in much of the area. Stability could quickly change with significant warming, wind, or new snow but for now, it seems hard to go wrong skiing in Turnagain. Our recent storm snow is also faceting out and while this has made for great skiing conditions, on steep slopes sluff was moving fast and entraining a lot of snow.

Stability was generally good during our tour, though fast-moving sluff on steep slopes required careful management.