Our party skied Wolftail via the sw ridge on 3/21 and 3/23. Early on the 21st we found 15-25cms cold snow at mid elevations and wind affect at upper elevations, atop a stout sun crust. The main gully had debris from older cornice failures. Sunshine was both direct and filtered, and by 1200 rollerballs were popping at mid elevations. After our descent we noticed the gully to the east had new D1.5 wet slide that ran about 1500 feet at mid elevation. Snow pack became punchy below 4500’.
3/23 provided a hard freeze and a few cms of fresh wind slabs above 5000’. We waited for the SW aspect to warm, but the wind kept upper elevations firm. We skied the lower half in spring conditions.
