March 7, 2006, Heather Ridge

Will (WLM3) and I went up Heather Ridge today with my dog, Duck.  We dug a snow pit before dropping in on the north side just over from Skyline Lake.  At that spot, it appeared that only the top 4 inches were potentially a concern.  The tree skiing was very nice, with boot to calf deep powder and no crust or bombs to worry about.  We then skinned up Peak 5420 to the north, but a second pit on the top of the north bowl showed 3 separate layers that slid with little prompting and clear slab formation.  The bowl didnt seem like a good call, so we decided to ski back down to the drainage with 2 or three inches of dust on crust -- fun but scratchy.  We did another lap on the north slope, triggering one small surface sluff in the top four inches on a rollover.  We then headed back to the car with very soft but turnable snow on the southfacing slopes.  Duck demonstrated the problems that feathery Golden Retrievers can have with soft snow, toting medicine ball sized snowballs stuck to his fur.  He was one exhausted dog by the time we got back.  

Overall, a very good day.  Thanks for getting out with me, Will.  Definitely some conditions that will bear watching with all the new snow expected in the next few days.