Went for a lap on Panorama Ridge (east lower) today with Briony Williamson and Fred Heikoop.
Skinned up to Taylor Lake and onward toward the lower east ridge of Panorama Ridge. There was an old skin track almost all the way to our highpoint which was nice. We dropped down the south aspect from about 2500m and regained our skin track to make an easier exit back to Taylor Lake and back to the parking lot.
The trail up to Taylor Lake is in excellent shape for this time of year (or even December) with about an average of 30cm of snow along it. Once at the lake the snowpack got a little deeper but then getting a little thinner up the ridge. The ridge has an average of 35-40cm of snow but there is a mid pack crust that provides support without being too grabby on the down. The crust is weak/breaking down and I felt pretty good about it not sliding on this interface but we did see a very small pocket (a few meters square) come out between a single set of turns. I couldn’t seem to see even hints of wind effect in the snow anywhere today, it’s was actually impressive! It snowed for most of the day (still snowing out there now) with absolutely no wind, not even a hint. If it snows like this all night then tomorrow could be really outstanding up there.
