1-29 Phantom Slide

Quick post because no one else seems to have thrown one up (plenty of people there though) and NWAC reported a dearth of reports for Sunday.

We were last party on the mountain, descending around 3:00pm.  Skin track is a challenge (big surprise, huh?).  Got warmer all day long, started percipitating with a sleet squall at ~1:30, a good break, then steady increase in various phases of frozen/refrozen until it settled on a light rain around 3:00.

Winds out of the North were whipping pretty hard at 3:00 at 5500' (maybe 20-30kts?) and mobilizing snow, lee deposits south of rolls were getting slabby quick with one release of 4" x 10' x 30' length on about a 40 degree slope via ski cut.  Winds died quickly below 5000' down in the thicker trees.

Good turns for about 800', then worsening isothermal below that.  Saw some pinwheels but they wouldn't last long, everything seemed solid even on open steep slopes low in the Phantom.  Highlight of the day was Waterfall direct which was a first with great firm skiing, only some iceballs at the runout.

Oddity of the day was ripping skins in sidways snow (wind) and 45 degree rain at the same time.