On a bit of a flyer we opted to ski in the Western Unitas via snow machine (we started from Bear River Lodge). We have limited experience in the area and figured today would be a great day to sight see, explore and if we skied, that was a bonus.

We found that the snow on the south and west aspects, was not really deep enough for good skiing... the good skiing was on the norths. Murdock's west aspect was thin and scoured, we poked around on the lower angle stuff, dodging snow machines (they were all incredibly friendly, we looked like weirdos out there skiing). We opted to dig a pit just to see what things looked like.

The pit was the most reactive we had experienced. the Shovel Shear and Compression Tests failed as we isolated the snow columns to perform the test. The ECT scored ECTN7 (which we were surprised by given the other tests failed more quickly (suspect the ground may not have been level, it was rocky ground where we were).

Confirmation that north facing slopes in the Unita are not to be messed with.