Went for a sprint up the Asulkan valley to Youngs Pk. today.
Good freeze last night made for quick travel up the valley with a supporting crust of varying thickness all the way to the summit of Youngs Pk. (2900m.). Sunny skies today and mild temps made for great corns skiing with a mostly supportive crust on the NW aspects of Youngs Pk. The compacted track in the valley carried skiers in the afternoon and made for a fairly painless ski out.
There was an extensive loose and storm slab cycle during yesterdays (May.8/2011) sunshine and mild temps, mostly size 2-2.5. They were limited to the recent 25cms of storm snow, but ran fairly far, on what I would suppose was an old crust. This activity was spread over all aspects.
Last night’s freeze calmed down activity today, aside from some minor solar action on steeper slopes.
We are in full spring skiing now and everything will hinge on early starts and a good overnight freeze.
Watch out for large sun exposed slopes overhead and of course those ever looming monster cornices.
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide