General Observations

Great day of skiing had on Isabell Knoll!

Despite forecasted high winds through the pass, our party of three decided to try to find any lingering stashes of powder from the past week’s storms. As predicted, the wind was fierce from Trims Camp south through the pass. Our hopes of avoiding skiing in a ground blizzard were fading as we crossed McCallum Creek with the wind still howling. Another half mile south… the wind just…stopped. We pulled into the Fielding Lake pullout to bright sunshine and still air! 

We were stoked to be out in the mountains on a warm, sunny, and still day; but were still expecting to end up skiing sastrugi, wind blasted slopes and scoured ridges. Couldn’t have been more wrong. Isabell Knoll delivered the powder stash we were hunting for!  20-30cm of glorious soft snow was found on top of a generally 70-100cm snowpack throughout the entire area, with the north facing spines providing the best lines. (Generally thinner snowpack near the ridgetop). No sign of any ice crust in the snowpack. Soft dry powder made for some of the best skiing had outside of March in the Eastern Alaska Range.

There were, however, a number of red flags that should be of note to all who venture out. The snow is very touchy! There were lots of whumphs, shooting cracks, and collapsing on all slopes and aspects. We touched off a few small localized releases in steep pockets. Users should choose terrain with care.