Ptarmigan Cirque

Checking out the other side of the road from last weekend.
A lot of snow has been falling lately, but extreme winds have increased avalanche hazard and windslabs have been forming in the alpine. We were originally going to check out Hero's Knob, but due to the conditions (and the timing), we figured we'd check out the Highwood Pass area.

Ptarmigan Cirque is on the east side of Highway 40, across from Pocaterra Cirque (where I went last weekend), so it was interesting to see the same area from a different perspective.

Looking south along Highway 40

We took the route on the south side of the drainage (towards Mount Arethusa), then crossed over to the Mount Rae side once we had reached the bench below the cirque. The snow here was very difficult to deal with, as there was hard windslab mixed in with stiff pillows of powder. I was thankful for my full face helmet.

Once we got down to treeline, the conditions improved dramatically and the skiing was very good. So good, in fact, that we went back up to do a second run.

Skiing back to the road required minimal bushwhacking, and we got back to the car early enough to enjoy some drinks at the Paw and still have half a day left.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/271656671/3101909