Roctober! a Soap box entry
On the up
We set out on October 29th 2 days after a 35cm dump came through the Highwood pass region of Kananaskis Country. We skinned right from the parking lot (bonus!) on a sporty skin track through the forest which then broke out into an open meadow. After looking at our possible options we headed towards an area that had three chutes, the chutes would provide the best skiing because they were a little more filled in and generally boulder free. We made our way to the fan below our chosen chute , had a coffee break and dug a quick pit.
Boot pack
The base while shallow at 55cms, was actually pretty stable and well consolidated so we packed up , put our skis on our backs and kicked out way up the slope for about 250m until we found a solid wind slab on top of rain crust. Red light. Quick test and we pulled out a little slab. That was about as far as we were willing to go , taking a ride down the rocky slope below wasn't very inviting and hey , it's October and we were standing above a nice line and some great snow. All smiles. The chute it's self had great coverage and was rock free ( yay! ) but the fan below on the other hand was littered with rocks lurking below the surface. We skied the fan and bounced off less rocks than we thought ( was still about 6 or so ) , highfived each other , skinned up and left for the car.
