Windslabs & Whiteout

North Rockies

northrockiesfieldteam , Wednesday 18th December, 2024 6:15PM

It was a cloudy day in Bijoux but a temperature inversion meant it was warmer on the ridge (-9ºC) than at the trucks (-16ºC). It also had us recreating in the clouds which left us navigating in whiteout conditions even when the snowfall ended around 10 am. Around noon the northeast winds died down before switching to the southwest. We saw some small cracks in soft windlsabs along the normally scoured southwest side of ridge lines. With the cold weather, we expect old windslabs may also linger on northeast slopes from last weekend. Looking forward, this switch in winds means windslabs may be found in large a variety of aspects and features. With windslabs and whiteout conditions in the alpine, we retreated to the trees in hopes of finding soft snow and some definition. There's still plenty of obstacles in forest but the snow was playful and supportive.

Source: Avalanche Canada MIN

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