In search of something soft

Headed up to Kootenay Pass today with Tim and Steve in search of some soft snow. Spring like warming, no clouds, intense solar radiation, and no snow have all contributed to a general suckiness towards ski conditions. A little extra effort was indeed needed to find the goods. With tree bombs destroying any lines in the trees and intense solar radiation turning anything south facing into refrozen junk, we opted for open north facing lines to find some softer snow. Initially we saw several groups at the parking lot, but as soon as we started skinning up we didn't see anyone for the rest of the day. A real treat for Cornice Ridge on a Saturday. Heading up Cornice Ridge we dropped into some nice steep north facing lines off its backside. A couple of laps on the open north face and we hopped into the main bowl on Cornice Ridge to get back to the highway. Conditions on this south facing slope were surpisingly soft up top but then breakable crust after about 150 feet or so. Hoping to find something better we traversed the bowl until finding some nice snow on some northeast facing steeps and then skied out back to the highway and the car. All in all, a great day in the backcountry with some new terrain explored.