Carbide Deep at the Notch

Today we ventured towards the Flathead in hopes of getting up high and finding some decent snow in sheltered areas. Our goal was to get up towards the MacLatchie but we were turned around just after the Ram creek junction due to icy driving/sledding conditions. Plan B was to go up from Morrissey staging to the Notch using the maintained Fernie Snowmobile Association trail network. The conditions right now are great for a trail ride, firm and smooth grooming, but challenging to keep a mountain sled cool at lower elevations. Up at 2000m near the Notch, we found 300cm total height of snow! Surface conditions are firm, sled penetration of a measly 3 cm. The crust is 5-10 cm thick, and covers 5-10 cm of fist resistance near surface facets. There is surface hoar up to 10 mm formed above the crust, and 2 cm of new stellars sparkling away in the sunshine! Temperatures hovered around -8 in the treeline, and winds were calm. Ridgetop wind was light from the west. While our ridge of high pressure persists with cold temps we expect to see minimal change in this area. The extent of faceting in the upper snowpack will increase, and we may see the crust begin to break down which could improve the riding quality. We are crossing our fingers and hoping to see some snow in the forecast!