Wet Windows

This morning, we were slightly dismayed by the weather outside. After reviewing the forecasts and telemetry for our region, we decided to head out to the Crowsnest Pass, where the rain hasn't been as heavy... yet. When we arrived, we found a number of people on the same page as us, and, given the weather, hats off to their dedication! We rode out from the Atlas staging area. The snow on the trails was slushy, wet, but soft enough to keep the sleds cool on our commute. We travelled up to 2000 m in Window Mountain bowl, and stuck to the sheltered trees, giving the overhead hazard in the area plenty of space. We dug in the snow on a North East aspect at 2000 m. We found 20 cm of soft snow on top of the most recent crust; the top 10 cm of this was moist and sticky from the rain. Below this is 30 cm of well-settled snow sitting on an old crust from January that has completely decomposed. The lower snowpack is again well settled and showing signs of long-term stability, which is good news for spring riding, after this atmospheric river passes us. While we were in the field today, we did not see any avalanches in motion, but there is evidence of many size 1-1.5 loose wet avalanches in the area. As the rain continues to fall and temperatures remain elevated, we expect this natural avalanche cycle to continue over the next few days.