We spent 4 days at the Asulkan cabin from February 18-21. The weather was mostly stormy.

During our stay we saw up to 60cm of storm snow load the Feb 15 interface. The storm began warm and was accompanied by strong winds from the SW. This created reactive storm slabs as well as scouring in some exposed areas. The winds subsided for the last 24 hours of the storm and 15-20 cm of low density snow dusted rocks that were previously exposed in the alpine. This has potential to be a day wrecker if someone was to ski through it at speed.

On the 21st the weather cleared and the temperature dipped to -20c accompanied by light-moderate down flow winds all the way to the valley bottom. There was evidence of a natural cycle to size 3 on all aspects in the alpine. The upper 5-25cm storm snow was getting pressed into soft wind slabs in areas exposed to the down flow winds. On our way out the Asulkan valley we observed cracking of small unsupported features from previous skier traffic, down 30-40cm. This observation was near the open creek and we suspect the weak layer to be the February 15 surface hoar in this location.

Simon Beland ACMG Ski Guide

Will Woods ACMG Ski & Hiking Guide