Asulkan trees pits

<p>Yesterday afternoon we skinned up to Asulkan and skied down the partly forested ridge skiers left of the hut avoiding the gully. The top was wind affected, followed by light powder, before heavier snow towards the mouse trap. Throughout the night we had heavy winds and snow fall. Today we skied down the more forested skiers right ridge from the hut. Throughout the day we heard the sound of frequent large avalanches, however, we didn’t see any due to the low visibility. The snow was wind affected in alpine, and heavy powder at tree line with warm temps. We dug two N facing pits. The first pit we dug at 2075 m (alpine and wind affected). On the first elbow tap we had an uneven propagation down 20 cm. On the 3rd elbow tap we had a sudden collapse and slide down 1 meter. The snow above the collapse was several layers of wind affected snow, while the snow at the break was a 10 cm tall pocket of low density sugary snow. The second pit we at 1990 m (partly tree covered). On the 5th hand tap we had an uneven break down 25 cm, low density snow. On the 2nd elbow tap we had an uneven propagation down 45 cm, low density snow. On the 8th arm tap we had a sudden collapse and slide on an even faceted surface down 1 meter. We decided to turn around to the hut as we didn’t feel comfortable skiing (and skinning back up later) over the open convex roller.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Dense trees, Mellow slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Alpine slopes, Convex slopes, Steep slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Snow Conditions

Deep powder, Heavy, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Stormy, Warm, Wet.