AST 1 Class

Overall riding quality was poor. In steep sections the fist density snow on top of the crust was not enough to float on while the crust is very noticeable and challenging to hold and edge when turning. In sheltered lower angle terrain riding quality increased when making shallow turns so as not to hit the crust.

Our AST 1 course dug a long trench style pit in a flat and sparsely treed meadow. Here we observed layers in the snowpack and practiced compression tests. Most notable in terms of layers is the new rain crust ( IFrc ) burried 15cm below the surface. This crust was supportive to ski penetration but not always to foot penetration. Below this is one finger density snow ( 1F) to pencil ( P ) all the way down to the Nov 9th melt freeze crust ( MFcr ). Faceted snow was observed above and below this crust which is well into the process of breaking down. No results observed on the Nov 9th crust. Compression tests CTM 15 RP down 16 below the IFrc x 5 Compression Test Moderate, 15 taps , fracture character : resistant planar, failure occured 16 cm from the surface. Results repeated 5 times over