Belle Mountain Late Spring Ride

<p>Staging area is muddy but the trail is in amazing condition. Lower section barely degraded by the time we came back. Moderate to Strong SW winds with temp around 0C at the top of little Belle. Between sun and wind affects not much powdery snow to ride unless going into wind sheltered, treed areas on Notherly aspects. Highly sun affected south slopes had foot and sled penetration but not to the point that it appeared to have a destabilizing effect. Despite the conditions, it was well worth the trip just for the views and to have a pesky Ptarmigan pop up and try some parkour manouveurs off your helmet on the return trip down the trail. Sadly, this the last trip of the season for us.</p>

Weather Report

<p>Moderate to strong SW winds. Not much loose snow left to transport but it was still managing to scour the surface a bit. Wind was strong enough that at certain angles our bodies were acting as sails requiring unusual steering requirements for the terrain. Unsure how much fresh snow occurred in the last storm cycle. Old tracks in the wind sheltered areas so it appears wind has most likely been from SW for a couple of days. Sun was quite intense when it was out.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Convex slopes, Mellow slopes, Open trees, Steep slopes, Sunny slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Rapid temperature rise to near zero degrees or wet surface snow.

Snow Conditions

Hard, Wet, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Sunny, Warm, Windy.