Backcountry skiing (alpine touring) 5:00:00 [2] 10.0 km (30:00 / km) +1250m 18:28 / km
About 35 cm of new snow. The rest of the group was wanting to be really cautious with this new snow. Lucas and I spotted some low-angle ways to get in and out of Cap'n Krunch, using yesterday's uptrack through Planetary Glades to get there. The rest of the group said they were sticking to the glades. Lucas and I had a great faceshot run down from Planetary Ridge to the saddle to the north. Then down the nose of the ridge above Cap'n Krunch. Some touchy slopes where the angle was steep, the storm snow would sluff or even slab. Dropped down through the trees and had a great run, with sluff management.
Broke trail to reconnect with the uptrack through the glades, and saw the downtracks from the other group: they had gone for the gully that Lucas and I were considering but didn't want to commit to until we saw how the less committing ridgeline skied. Climbed back up and dropped into Mercury Bowl which was awesome and not having any activity (due to its lesser angle).
Back up on Planetary Ridge, we followed the ridge south to get to some new lines on the skier's left of the glades but started getting tempted to due the full traverse up and over Planetary Peak and around the ridge. By 6:00, we were getting close but decided to not push it. Ripped skins and had a great line down the far skier's left of Planetary Glades, taking us directly to the hut.