Skied the Lilly - Dome traverse today with fellow aspiring Ski Guides Lee
Johnston and Ian Kirschner. Moderate trailbreaking up to the col and
excellent fresh tracks down to the Asulkan. There is 30-50 cm of mainly
unconsolidated snow on top of the Dec 25 rain crust now. Where wind
affected (on our tour just below the col, both sides) there is a soft slab
reactive to skis with fast, easy shears on the Dec 25 crust. This was a
bit of a surprise since elsewhere we've noted that the new snow was
bonding well to the crust. We didn't examine the interface carefully but
there is probably some facetting responsible down there.
We kicked off a SSL sz 1.5-2.0 on the steep roll on the north side of the
col on the way down (40 cm deep, 50 m wide, ran about 100 m total) as the
leader cautiously entered the slope -- not exactly a ski cut, not exactly
a surprise either. A little lower (2350 m) there is little wind affect
down to the valley bottom.
Alp - Considerable
Treeline - Considerable
BTL - Moderate
FAntastic skiing in the Pass -- tonight calls for a heavy dump which will
mean a sharp increase in Avalanche Danger top to bottom.
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
Ass't Alpine Guide
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