Windy day at Blue Lakes

Great day for a "shakedown" first ride of the season at Blue Lakes today. Due to the avalanche danger and early season conditions, we agreed not to leave Blue Lakes road until gaining elevation, and then to only ride off piste away from avalanche terrain and in areas known to have few obstacles.

All of the alpine terrain within view appeared to be very wind affected, and snow surfaces even in the trees were showing signs of significant wind transport. 

A test pit on a shaded aspect at 8200ft showed recent snow to be settling, with no column tests producing planar results within the recent snow. The bottom of recent snow had settled to 1 Finger hardness. However, there was a distinct layer of 2mm facets just above the basal ice that produced consistent Sudden Collapse results with Deep Tap tests.

Pic 1: A small natural Wind Slab avalanche. Big terrain in the area did not appear to have any natural avalanche activity.

Pic 2: A thin layer of reactive facets just above the basal ice (that my shovel could not cut through). 140cm of snowpack measured on this shaded slope at 8200ft.

Pic 3: Not someone from our group, but an unfortunate reminder that snow is still shallow, especially at lower elevations.

Video: Impressive wind transport on the surrounding peaks and ridges.