Wildsnow Field HQ sits on a mining claim from the 1800s. We think the claim was probably a “fake” deal designed to extract money from clueless investors — no gold or silver here that would ever be worth mining, just a bunch of crumbly slate that would turn to gravel as soon as you tried to cut it. Whatever the case, it’s private land now. Skin out, ski in. Spring boot-top powder is when we like it best. Mining? We go for the white stuff instead of the golden.
Silver fox mining the claim.
Inspecting the avalanche forecasting data stake halfway up the peak.
Snow depth is 92 inches (settled) at the study plot. That's bodacious for Colorado.
Sheared off snow on top of wood shed to study layers. Unfortunately a snow dirt (snirt) layer was deposited by high winds before our last snowfall. The dark layer below the dirt layer is storm crust.
A foot of fresh on top of the snirt. We skied conservatively down gentle slopes, as the snirt is an unpredictable sliding layer.
Snow crawl on the south shed. Another glacier in the making? Lou has been observing the snowpack for more than a half century, he says 'I am still amazed at what snow can do.'
WildSnow Girl, Lisa Dawson, is the luckiest girl in the world. Also known as Mrs. WildSnow.com, she tests whatever gear she wants. She gives the WildSnow family of websites the feminine voice.