Shelter from the Storm

With the east wind-a-blowing, I chose a sheltered Middle Fork drainage to escape the good-for-nothing arctic blast.

• Light to moderate winds at the trailhead and mouth of the drainage resulted in light wind transport. Further up the drainage, winds were calm except near ridgelines where light to moderate winds produced light wind transport. Thin wind slabs up to 1" thick were found near ridgelines and on the valley floor.
• Skinning was sporty and variable. From low to mid-elevations we encountered a frozen surface, breakable crust, and loose dry snow resting on a slick crust. 
• The skiing was excellent above 5300' with up to 10" of dry snow resting on a supportable crust. Below 5300', the skiing was good with generally 4-6" of stiffer dry snow on a supportable crust interspersed with patches of ice and frozen wet loose debris. 
• Very small loose dry sluffs occurred on the up track with small manageable sluffs on the descent. One natural D1 loose dry slide was observed around 5000'. The longest-running sluffs traveled ~200'.