30 Jan - perfect powder

Today I returned to the same place as yesterday in Otari. What a surprise! It started out windy and clouded over, then cleared blue and calm. After so many tracks in that area yesterday, a day busier than I have ever seen there, the new snow overnight completely reset the zone and there was virtually no sign of any previous activity. I was breaking trail in knee deep. Not one other track on the descent, which had good quality fast powder. I could not find any evidence of avalanche activity on the terrain visible from the ridge and had a good time skiing deep quality stable powder on NE aspects below 1550m.

The clear weather has created a new sun crust on east and south slopes that will no get buried by the coming storm. New instability? At 1400m in a somewhat wind loaded area the 1201234 sun crust on south slopes is now 170cm deep. Overnight winds from the north had transported and sculptured the ridge in places forming large soft cornices and loaded south aspects.