Up and over(wind) in the Skyland area

Today we took a ride/ski in the Skyland and Baldhead Ridge areas.

We found wind affected snow, however, but not quite in the ways we expected.  

• The NE winds that have pummeled the Flathead valley over the last week have certainly been at work in the Skyland area as well.  The interesting bit with these winds was the localized channeling effects.  The winds cross-loaded exposed E and SE slopes as the air pushed its way over the divide, as opposed to simply top-loading the higher ridgelines.
• There were noticeable crusts within our pits (Valentine's day sun crust, Groundhogs Day, Jan 17). however, none of them were reactive in our pits.  
• 2 natural cornice falls had triggered 2 20-inch deep hard slab avalanches at ridge lines. These were on a SW aspect and wereonly able to run 50 feet before getting hung up on shallow bench. The hard slabs on this aspect did not extend far below the ridge.
• The sheltered terrain held settled, boot top deep snow that is bonded well with the layer beneath it.
• Our Quality Control and Snow Safety departments agreed to descend in the sheltered trees rather than the open, cross-loaded terrain.