Spent the last two days up on Lucille Peak, teaching an AST course for Robson Backcountry Adventures. On Sunday, we dug a snow profile at 1950m (NE-aspect) and found an easy, sudden planar result down 15 cms:

CTE1 (SP) dn 15
CTH28 (BKN) dn 45

Our Extended Column Test produced no significant results on that same layer. A video can be found on our social media channel for anyone interested.

With that in mind, we returned on skis the next day and found 15-20cm of new snow overnight with significant wind transport. Temperatures were around -4C and wind slab formation widespread in all exposed TL/ALP features (what a change!). I ski cut a 35 deg convex slope at 2050m, and had a shooting crack propagate across the feature but it did not slide (see photo overview). No whumphs and no signs of recent avalanche activity. The wind slab problem appeared to be stubborn, but widespread today.

With concerning avalanche conditions, snowing S1 and moderate-strong winds all day, we stayed out of wind-affected slopes. The best skiing was found in sheltered TL features where face shots were on everyone's smiles :)