Friday we drove to Castle Mt., which was also busier than usual with the Alberta school holiday week. The drive from Fernie can have a variety of wildlife.
Approaching the mountain it's mostly sunny but there's a mix of cloud and blowing snow on top.
It was about 15F at the base but maybe 10F up high with gusty winds. Morning was mostly sunny and afternoon mostly overcast. There were occasional 5 minute lines at the base, but none at the upper Red chair due to the weather.
The wind hammering that messed up snow surfaces at Polar Peak at Fernie and the Island Lake alpine was a mixed bag at Castle. There were areas of stiff uneven snow but there was also windsift. Drifter had both but enough smooth snow for decent skiing. Liz did not go to the top again on Friday after Drifter.
I looked for more uniform windsift, finding it on the skier’s left of Sheriff, Tamarack and the south chutes Lone Star and Desperado. The latter runs required an approach into the strongest wind of at least 30 knots. A posse of local hotshots blew by me in Desperado.
The wind was especially intense riding Tamarack 1-2PM. Fortunately it abated on two later rides but I remained somewhat chilled.
The north side was typical packed powder, not as much loose snow on top as usual as it’s been awhile since a major dump. View down North Bowl:
This would be a mogul marathon at most ski areas but remained soft packed powder with Castle's low skier density. I skied 20,800 vertical Friday.
We stayed in Pincher Creek as the Castle hotel was booked due to the holiday week. Pincher Creek was also windy, and Alberta is making good use of it here.
Saturday was warmer, probably 20+F at the base and 15F up high, though mostly overcast and minimal wind in the morning. 5 minute lines were consistent at the base and intermittent on the Red chair in the morning. From the Haig chair we get an overview view of the south chutes and Drifter.
Most of the mountain is calm now but the wind is stirring up the snow at far left.
I showed Liz the windsift on Sheriff first.
And then on Tamarack before we split up:
Outlaw next to Sheriff was similar, and I pushed farther out the south chutes to High Rustler, which had great windsift but the wind was blowing along most of the run. View of High Rustler from below:
By 1PM the wind had reached Drifter, but it skied much better than on Friday morning with abundant new deposition.
Next time up top it was blowing very hard as I navigated Huckleberry Ridge to the trees near Showdown. I fortunately cinched my hood tight for the next ride up Red chair at 1:50. It took half an hour to get up top with several stoppages. For the longest one of 10+ minutes I was two chairs from the top in 60-70mph winds. Off Ramp was a cloud of blowing snow where I lost my balance once. This was my most extreme lifetime wind experience skiing, which is saying something for someone with 400+ ski days at Mammoth.
I made it to Upper Chinook with more blown-in snow, then the North Rim groomer lower down where there was still some wind. I called it a day with 19,200 vertical by 3PM as the top was obviously closed and I needed to avoid further chilling. We also had COVID antigen appointments at 4:15 at the Walmart in Pincher Creek for re-entry to the US the next day.
While we are often on the lookout for windsift at Mammoth, it is an intermittent phenomenon there. In recent years we've been there a few times when the wind is blowing from the wrong direction and scouring the upper slopes instead of depositing loose snow. Castle's wind is more consistent in a favorable direction. I've been there in 10 different seasons and never seen widespread scouring. While the wind deposition was not as deep as in 2018, it was still great skiing over much of the terrain this time. The blowing snow was still with us as we left the mountain.
Approaching the mountain it's mostly sunny but there's a mix of cloud and blowing snow on top.
It was about 15F at the base but maybe 10F up high with gusty winds. Morning was mostly sunny and afternoon mostly overcast. There were occasional 5 minute lines at the base, but none at the upper Red chair due to the weather.
The wind hammering that messed up snow surfaces at Polar Peak at Fernie and the Island Lake alpine was a mixed bag at Castle. There were areas of stiff uneven snow but there was also windsift. Drifter had both but enough smooth snow for decent skiing. Liz did not go to the top again on Friday after Drifter.
I looked for more uniform windsift, finding it on the skier’s left of Sheriff, Tamarack and the south chutes Lone Star and Desperado. The latter runs required an approach into the strongest wind of at least 30 knots. A posse of local hotshots blew by me in Desperado.
The wind was especially intense riding Tamarack 1-2PM. Fortunately it abated on two later rides but I remained somewhat chilled.
The north side was typical packed powder, not as much loose snow on top as usual as it’s been awhile since a major dump. View down North Bowl:
This would be a mogul marathon at most ski areas but remained soft packed powder with Castle's low skier density. I skied 20,800 vertical Friday.
We stayed in Pincher Creek as the Castle hotel was booked due to the holiday week. Pincher Creek was also windy, and Alberta is making good use of it here.
Saturday was warmer, probably 20+F at the base and 15F up high, though mostly overcast and minimal wind in the morning. 5 minute lines were consistent at the base and intermittent on the Red chair in the morning. From the Haig chair we get an overview view of the south chutes and Drifter.
Most of the mountain is calm now but the wind is stirring up the snow at far left.
I showed Liz the windsift on Sheriff first.
And then on Tamarack before we split up:
Outlaw next to Sheriff was similar, and I pushed farther out the south chutes to High Rustler, which had great windsift but the wind was blowing along most of the run. View of High Rustler from below:
By 1PM the wind had reached Drifter, but it skied much better than on Friday morning with abundant new deposition.
Next time up top it was blowing very hard as I navigated Huckleberry Ridge to the trees near Showdown. I fortunately cinched my hood tight for the next ride up Red chair at 1:50. It took half an hour to get up top with several stoppages. For the longest one of 10+ minutes I was two chairs from the top in 60-70mph winds. Off Ramp was a cloud of blowing snow where I lost my balance once. This was my most extreme lifetime wind experience skiing, which is saying something for someone with 400+ ski days at Mammoth.
I made it to Upper Chinook with more blown-in snow, then the North Rim groomer lower down where there was still some wind. I called it a day with 19,200 vertical by 3PM as the top was obviously closed and I needed to avoid further chilling. We also had COVID antigen appointments at 4:15 at the Walmart in Pincher Creek for re-entry to the US the next day.
While we are often on the lookout for windsift at Mammoth, it is an intermittent phenomenon there. In recent years we've been there a few times when the wind is blowing from the wrong direction and scouring the upper slopes instead of depositing loose snow. Castle's wind is more consistent in a favorable direction. I've been there in 10 different seasons and never seen widespread scouring. While the wind deposition was not as deep as in 2018, it was still great skiing over much of the terrain this time. The blowing snow was still with us as we left the mountain.
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