March 20, 2017, Chair Peak Basin

Took a morning lap up into the Chair Peak Basin. 1-2" down low and 2-3" up high soft snow on a very firm crust. Lots of slide debris out and about in both Source Lake and Chair Peak basins meant tricky skinning and mindful navigation. All of the debris was of the loose wet variety with one exception. In the Chair Peak basin we found a very impressive slide that came down from Chair Peak probably over the weekend, it ran from high on the face and the crown was easily 3'+ deep. I imagine most of the slide activity is from Saturday during the rain/warming event? 

Once into the basin we didn't venture far. We booted up the first col climber's right and took a look down the north face of Chair to Snow Lake which looks like a great run for another day. The descent back to Source was highly variable with just the right combo of ice, slide debris, and 2-3" hero soft slush where slides or tracks hadn't previously affected the surface snow. All in all a fabulous way to get yourself to lunchtime.

Here's a Google photos link if the pics below don't show up: https://goo.gl/photos/zWyHqWeZvvq5s79k6

Big Chair Slide 1


Big Chair Slide 2


Col Booting


A good handful of smooth turns


Pineapple from Chair Basin