Against the Wind

I visited Glacier Park's island range and walked the breezy ridgeline in commemoration of this weekend's 40th-anniversary of Bob Seger's only #1 album, Against the Wind.

• The recent melt-freeze crust extends from the valley floor to my high point of 5600' on S-SE-E aspects. It is breakable and tapers from 2" thick to 1". Above 4400' it was mostly absent on N-NE aspects and just a thin 1/4" crust where found.  
• Several inches of powder caps settled old snow on northerly aspects and provided surprisingly high-quality riding.
• Moderate winds at ridgeline locations >5200' transported snow and formed fresh cornices. No slabs found, but cornices were tender to ski stomping.
• Minimal recent wet avalanche activity observed. Some rollerballs and D1 loose wet slides, but no cornice failures within the 7 cornices on my tour.