May 15-17, 2009, Obstruction Point
5/15/09
2058
2
Three of us spent some time last weekend out the Obstruction Point Road skiing some seriously funky conditions. Creepy "thumper crusts" on ridge tops and a few significant avalanches on aspects looking North and NE including much of the east face of Obstruction, and a large slide in Elk Mountain's West Bowl. The best corn was on steeper NW slopes for obvious reasons, and also on SW slopes likely due to the cool breeze coming from that direction. We slept out in the open but found sustained winds of 30 - 40 mph through the night. Despite clear skies the high temperature never allowed the snow to re-freeze on Saturday night.
Going into last weekend I had figured it was probably the most unstable weekend of the spring in the Oly's, and I still believe that to be true. My guess is that this weekend will be much better for the bigger slopes.
The road is in good shape, with only about 200 meters of ski carry necessary, should be good for at least a few weeks.
Going into last weekend I had figured it was probably the most unstable weekend of the spring in the Oly's, and I still believe that to be true. My guess is that this weekend will be much better for the bigger slopes.
The road is in good shape, with only about 200 meters of ski carry necessary, should be good for at least a few weeks.
Thanks for the report. How were the conditions in Badger Valley?
Tons of coverage on the north aspects, all the way into the valley. not so much for the south facing side. This is the best pic i can find of the north facing side, taken from the top of obstruction pt:
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