Backcountry skiing (Roamr) 3:30:00 [3] 11.0 km (19:05 / km) +1300m 12:00 / km
Mt English with Stuart, Travis and Brook. Getting up there was an adventure today as very little sled traffic recently. That mean the trail was smooth but also meant that much more technical ride in trying to avoid getting stuck. Much snowier than I expected and it was very windy at treeline. We used a track further right than previous times and this worked well in avoiding the steeper slopes near the bottom. Last pitch was quite steep so not a perfect route. Skied a west facing run I had looked at last year - nice long run with interesting terrain. The track out of the valley went fine - thought there might be a crux getting through a cliff band but it wasn't an issue. Snow quality on the second run wasn't quite as good with wind pressed snow in many spots and then some old heli ski tracks. Also had to be cautious for wind slabs forming - kicked off a couple 0.5/1 slides on the steep pitch off the ridge. Took an ill advised detour through the cutblock with the sled on the way out and found a hole in some flat light. This required a 15 minutes digging session to get the sled out.