Wed, Feb 24, 2021 - 3:37 PM
Reporter(s):
Skye, Oli, Alec, Ki
Location:
Kowhl Butte
The Day Was:
Cold Windy Sunny
The Ride Was:
Good OK
The Snow Was:
Powder Wind effected Firm Crusty
Significant drifting snow from wind
We Rode:
Mellow slopes Alpine slopes Open trees Sunny slopes
We Stayed Away From:
Steep slopes Convex slopes
Written Report:
Our group took a sled to the base of Kwohl Butte to see how the recent rain and wind had impacted the snow.
We found firm, wind affected snow and ice / rime crusted snow from the trees at the base all the way to the rim.
Our pit was on the NE face and indicated some good consolidation but we still got a failure at ECT 25. The column did not move but with a little help it did slide into the pit.
We skied around the rim and checked conditions on all sides, there was ice or wind drift on all aspects. Wind was constant all day. We opted to drop in to the crater and had a few decent laps with the SW face of the bowl skiing the best. No signs of instability observed.
The NE face had a good amount of ice crust and the crust was dinner plating and really difficult to ski so we opted to ski off the SW end of the rim and cut to the NW glades where we did find some decent protected snow!