Trip up and down the Kindergarten Couloir today. -6 degrees at TH this morning at 9am, didn't seem as if the temps rose much throughout the day in the Alpine, but was not as cold as expected. Light W winds during our time in the field. Around 10pm a decent pulse of graupel came down, perhaps 3 to 5cm by noon at which point the precip slowed and turned over to light stellars. Old tracks were just visible underneath the recent HST. Firm conditions down low gave way to gradually thinning MF crust. By 2100m the crust fully relented on North aspects and gave way to enjoyable settled powder. Fortunately, the dense graupel greatly improved ski conditions on aprons, which skied well enough with crust underneath being mostly supportable while skiing. Decent shed in the couloir during the warmup, and debris was firm but enough room on the sides to avoid while skiing. Similar sluff/wind slab to what I found in the Bell Couloir the other day, in undisturbed snow was buried 10cm down from the surface, but didn't cause much concern as underlaying spx felt strong. Overall, good stability noted in all terrain traveled today, with the only concern being natural loose dry sluffing with high PI rates. Ski cutting produced shallow, low volume sluffing. Seems as if there is still decent quality, soft skiing on non-solar aspects above 2000m.
On The Map
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.