Sparrowhawk

Surprising good ski quality today. Below 2000m there isn't much coverage on the summer trail, so skis were shouldered for short sections on the way up. On the south face below the summer trail leading to Reads Tower the new snow was slabby and cracked up on the crust layer below which wasn't breakable. Ski crampons were mandatory. In the bowl below Reads Tower, soft new snow had accumulated. 10-15cms of light powder on the supportive crust. The steep wall before the main Sparrowhawk Ramp was tricky. I managed with ski crampons, but probably would have felt more secure bootpacking with crampons. Its steep, and there was very little purchase on that crust. Up above, the new snow was hardly wind affected and the cloud cover kept it cold. The small dip in the center of the ramp held 15cms soft snow all the way to the summit block. I probed between 160cm and 280cm with avg HS ~220cm on the ramp. The sun came out at first transition @12:15, greatly improving vis and making for a lovely descent. After finishing a second lap of the ramp around 2:00pm, the cold powder began settle in the heat and was slightly moist, then the clouds promptly blew in. Everything below Reads Tower felt untouched by the sun and the sheltered creek run BTL it had accumulated much more snow ~20cm. The skiing there was excellent. Had to climb out of the creek canyon, don't follow those tracks down unless you can rap on ice. The "sparsely" treed south slope above the canyon still held dry dust on supportive crust even at 4pm. There was enough coverage here to make it down to the road if you had rock skis and were cautious. I ended up A-framing for the last kilometer to the car. -8C in the morning, and -1C on the dash @4:30pm. All in all, excellent day. Dust on crust is in. But also the bears are out, don't forget your bear spray!