Shaking out the cobwebs
Jasper
AndrewfromJasper , Sunday 10th November, 2024 5:15PM
My friend Nicola said the skiing was not bad at Hilda and I figured she was full of shit since it's November, but we went for a walk and it turns out, it's pretty not bad! Did a couple of laps at treeline. Avoided the alpine due to rocks. Skied out the uptrack to avoid the moraine and associated rocks. Got some pretty fun early season turns in the gullies and meadows :)
10-15 cm soft new snow on top of 5cm melt freeze crust variable based on aspect and exposure. This crust is mostly supportive and makes for decent travel and skiing. Low density snow below. Foot pen to ground everywhere. Stubborn wind slab 5-15cm present in isolated pockets. Plenty of spacial variability in this early season snowpack.
Loose dry started in steep rocky feature in alpine on Parker Ridge W aspect facing Hilda Creek. Running in surface snow, stopped mid runout. Windy with active transport visible at time of release.
Source: Avalanche Canada MIN