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Spent the past two days skiing a couple of classic Rockies tours. Yesterday, March 31, we went up Cirque Peak. The route itself was in decent condition but the day was windy and white. The upper mountain was wind scoured and required the usual boot packing. From the top, we skied the north facing couloir to the glacier and wrapped around the peak to Dolomite Pass. The couloir was rocky at first but provided good skiing after about 20 meters. We did not probe the glacier but there seemed to be a substantial amount of snow. Storm snow measured between 20 - 50 cms but, apart from some sloughing in the couloir, was not reactive to skier traffic.
Today, April 1st, we skied and bootpacked up Storm Mountain. The route features a large and intimidating south slope that would not be a happy place if the sun were out. Luckily for us, the sun stayed hidden all day and temps remained cool. Storm snow in the area ranged from 10 - 30 cms and the skiing was surprisingly good. There was lots of debris from a previous cycle covering much of the lower mountain and the snowpack ranged from dust on crust to typical Rockies facets near the rocks. A buried suncrust was present but the snow sitting on top had not yet formed a widespread slab. We skinned to about 2800 meters and bootpacked on windscoured rocks and snow to the summit. A sizable cornice was present on the summit ridge.
Conditions are sure to change dramatically with tomorrow's snowfall so best to be conservative this weekend.
Cheers,
Andrew
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Andrew Wexler
ACMG Alpine Guide
ACMG Alpine Guide