I took a powder vacation up Wahoo Creek. I started out skiing west facing aspects from the ridge to the creek. There was almost no wind effect making the skiing conditions superb (some might even day double overhead depending on how tall you are). I was feeling pretty good about the snowpack, so I decided to put in a fairly aggressive skin track up the steeper east facing aspect across the drainage. The snow was generally dry and fluffy, but about 300 vertical feet shy of the ridgeline, the snow became notably denser. I noted wind ripples on the snow and small cracking under my ski tips (see pictures). I decided to turn around at that point, and on my way down, I ski cut and was able to trigger a few small wind slabs. Aside from said soft wind slabs near east facing ridge lines, everything seemed quite stable....and blower.
#powdervacation #mindfulmountaineering #mimosaswithjudy
