3 day trip to The Asulkan Hut with ACMG Ski Guide Martin Lefebvre.

Up to 40cm of snow fell over 48hrs with moderate to strong southwest winds.

There was clear evidence of wind transport in the alpine, but the ski quality remained incredible, with the top 20cm remaining Fist to 4 Finger hardness. We skied supported lines to 35 degrees up to 2600m on the seven steps with no reactivity to skier traffic or cracking on the uptrack. There was a surprising lack of slab in the new storm snow. With good views of the entire valley today, we also saw no evidence of new natural avalanche activity.

Height of Snow on the moraines above the Asulkan Hut ranged from 50cm to 3m in cross loaded troughs. Above 2400m, we probed a consistent 2-2.3m on the start of the ice of the seven steps. While right side up, it was still “early season” in resistance to the probe, and we noted the potential lack of strength in bridging crevasse.

Below the hut, the tree triangle was deep, with no evidence of any wind effect or tree bombing. There are still a lot of open holes around the creeks on either side, but coverage is damn good for November.

Overall, access in/out is in deep winter shape.