My Field

Skied Mt. Field yesterday (February 10) under sunny skies. We skied up the trees to climber's right of the main drainage as there was a partial skin track already set. Once in the alpine there was a very inconsistent combination of powder, breakable wind crust, solar crust (ice), and sastrugi - conditions that could make Lindsay Vonn look like a bad skier! Right near the summit was hard ice and we struggled a bit to get some steps cut through a small cornice to the ridge proper. There were many avalanches visible on north facing (wind loaded) slopes from the last storm cycle and one size 1.5 that we crossed at the crux. With the wind effect in this particular area I would have rated the alpine a but touchier than "low."