Quick report
Back out to Broken Top today. Ostensibly the reason was to see if I could find my whippet poles at the sled parking where I forgot them yesterday… but no luck. OTOH, since I was out there, might as well ride something while conditions are still good! First off, they groomed Trail 8 sled road. OMG it was SOOOO much better than yesterday! Lots of people out. Main BT crater sled parking looked like a parking lot, at least 10 sleds just in that area. Headed back out towards Pucker side since I knew the snow was good yesterday and figured it would stay good today, and I knew there was already a skinner/booter in from yesterday. But got out there and… booter was gone?? High winds actually filled it in, along with most of the tracks from yesterday. Skinned/booted up the same route to check out the snow; despite the winds it was not slabby on top, mostly just refreshed and somewhat dried out. Up on the ridge the winds were pretty much howling. Cornices grew a bunch overnight, including refilling in the cornice that I dropped at the Pucker entrance yesterday (see pic). At the top of Pucker I dropped a couple more cornices*, with no results (see video). Dropped Pucker, snow was great, super well bonded, might have even been better than yesterday after the wind refresh. Was supposed to be warmer but with the winds it felt similar to yesterday, and the snow stayed nice and cold. Several people were riding on that side of the crater, seemed like the best snow. Maybe good pow one more day before temporary spring arrives?? *DISCLAIMER: Cutting cornices can be a useful tool for testing snow stability on a slope… however, shouldn’t have to say this, but cutting cornices is dangerous!! - Before even thinking about cutting a cornice, make DAMN sure nobody is below you on the slope or in the runout zone. - Be very careful approaching cornices from the backside, they can break way further back than you might think! It may look like I’m in the danger zone in the vid but I’ve been in that spot many times with different coverage and know what’s under what I’m standing on. - There are other tools for cutting cornices that allow you to position yourself in a much safer spot further back. In this case I felt safe. YMMV.