Island Alpine Guides AST1 and Backcountry Tour

info , Sunday 15th December, 2024 9:15PM

Beautiful day for AST courses and a backcountry tour. Riding was quite nice in places sheltered from the wind and high enough in elevation that the previous warming did not settle the snow too much. Skied from about 1100m to 1500m and found up to 20cm ski penetration. Surface faceting overnight improved ski quality.

At 1400 m, NE facing, 48 HN sitting on various crust layers, CTE9 down 13 cm on graupel. CTH21, down 28cm clean shear, on precipitation particles. CTH22 down 48 on laminated crust. Surface hoar and facets on surface Hazard rating below tree line for areas skied: Low Tree line: perhaps Moderate though no avalanches were triggered and wind loaded convexities to 40+ degrees were skied. Warming followed by cooling seems to have locked things down at these elevations though likely the alpine is a different story with skier triggerable storm slabs remaining.