Last week in White Pass

Mountain Conditions Report

<p>We spent the last week (13-19th) in the White Pass at a highway base camp. The weather was seasonal with a mix of continuous storm inputs and northern sun shine. We received 20-40cm of storm snow over the week and riding conditions were excellent. We observed extensive amounts of treeline and alpine terrain and observed no new slab avalanches. Avalanche activity was limited to loose dry out of steep, north facing extreme features and loose wet out of south facing steep, rocky start zones. Nothing bigger than size 1.5. A sun crust now likely exists on anything steep and south facing below 1400m. The wind blew at times from both the north and south but wind slab that did form healed promptly and we had no reactivity to either skis or sleds. Snow depth amounts vary quite a lot in the alpine due to all the wind we've had this year but upper glaciers are typically holding 250-400cm of snow. Crevasses were well bridged in the areas we rode but the variability has me extra vigilant this season. On an access note, White Pass and Yukon Route has started to plow the rail line and have created quite the obstacle to sled travel if you are trying to access the east side of White Pass or travel down the tracks toward Bennett City from Log Cabin. It's a real bummer. As of Saturday, they had made it almost to Summit Creek and with a large snow cat and D6 dozer on the job, it won't take long before they make it the entire route. Expect to have to sniff around or shovel a crossing if heading east! All in all, coverage is quite good for such a windy year and some of the best riding is happening right now.</p>