ECTP at N Chutes Castle Peak

Our group toured in the Castle Peak area today. We observed surface hoar in the meadows at below treeline locations. Photo 1 shows SH from around 9:00 am, similar SH was still visible in sun and wind sheltered areas later in the day. We hiked up the South Face to look into the North Chutes area. Coverage on the south aspects is passable but thin, with a mix of melt-freeze and wind effected snow surfaces. 

At the ridgetop we observed moderate SW winds transporting some snow onto NE aspects. We dug a snowpit at the top of the North Chutes area near wher the skin track typically climbs up and out. Snow depth was 120cm at this location and the 12/11 facet layer was easily identified. Test results suggested that triggering an avalanche on this layer was possible at this location. We chose to wait on skiing the N aspect terrain and diverted to the SW chutes that lead back toward Castle Valley. 

The SW chutes area has a barely passable snowpack at the cliff band areas. A short bootpack got us down through the rock bands and onto the skiing below.  

We did not observe any avalanches, whumphs or other signs of instability during our travel today.