Powder

Wind Crust

Given the cold, I couldn't bring myself to bust out my shovel, but the ski pole penetrometer indicated powder in protected locations on top of a right-side-up snowpack, increasing in density with increasing depth. These protected areas also harbored perhaps up to 1cm of wide-spread surface hoar. In wind-affected areas, surface conditions ranged from a few centimeters of breakable wind crust all the way to 1F or P hardness wind slab atop the less dense storm snow. This dense slab existed largely in exposed locations above treeline, starting around 7300 feet. The gorgeous and artistic wind rippling drew me further into the wind-affected terrain just to get a better view of the stuff on low-angle slopes. Wind evidence on the snow surface indicated winds from the east. The descent offered plenty of awesome powder to ride through the protected tree shots on the south side of the Divide.