New Snow and Wind in the Negatives

Toured today with a group off the back of June Mtn. into the Negatives. We chose to skin up the bowl below Negative 2 rather than enter from the top, so that would could limit our exposure to the howling winds and stop when the snow quality deteriorated. 

West facing slopes off the back of J7 skied predictably, with a stout refrozen crust providing adequate support that we did not break through. From the meadow upwards, any slope that was not due north or that did not have enough angle or shelter had a 2cm temperature crust from yesterday. Sheltered north still had 20-30cm of heavier, 4F soft snow that was enjoyable.

Strong, gusty SW winds brought increased cloud cover and snow, with S-1 snowfall rates through the mid morning onwards. 2-3cm accumulated, with catchment zones receiving more, and many slopes stripped bare to the crust. Active wind transport was obvious, and our skin track was mostly filled in between laps, though there was limited cohesion in this new snow and any slab that was forming was thin and not capable of producing an avalanche in the areas directly observed.