CONDTIONS REPORT

First time out splitboarding on the bolton bc trails, the powder was unreal! I refernce the trails in this post so having the bc trails map will be helpful if interested. I parked near the pond loop trail and skinned up Bryant past the camp to Heavenly Highway to the Stowe View point which is in one of the pics. I was told this was where the deep powder was and it was no lie. I dropped off the view point into the cotton brook basin which was incredibly deep and light powder just like Montana. I was so stoked I just kept riding. I made a rooky mistake and wasn't really clear on the best trail to get back out and figured the cotton brook trail up to the Bolton-Trapp trail was the most direct route without looking more closely at the topo map. It was the shortest but its an extremely steep trail thats a technical skin with a lot of short side hill traversing switchbacks requiring a lot of energy and strategic pole placement so you don't slide backwards, it was not for the faint of heart as mine was getting a workout . It might have been easier to skin up Paradise Descent (would like any info on that route) but next time I will just go skiers left off of stowe view for a shorter run that meets the birch loop trail. It was a lot of effort but the powder was soo deep! I then skinned out to Gardiners lane and hit the glades out basically to where I started. It was later in the afternoon and these S/SW facing glades were fun, but the snow was manky as it was sunny and warm and the pitches not as steep. The tour was close to 6 miles. Some things to note that the trails are designed for skiers, so being on a splitboard you should be comfortable going downhill while in ski mode, be able to sidehill with your board edges, have enough strength to use your poles a lot and know that there are a good amount of flats that on a board you want to avoid. For gear lessons I will be getting some splitboard crampons they would have been a huge help for the steep skin ascent. I know better and being out of bounds i should have had a backup navigation device besides my phone since i was unfamiliar with the area , really important. Clothes i was wearing smartwool baselayers and have been enjoying the lack of stink from them but they do not wick the moisture like the synthetics. My top which is a light all season model was pretty damp after a tough climb which is fine if you are moving and warm but if you had an equipment break and had to stop that dampness will suck the warmth out of you even if its wool. Probably not a bad idea to have an extra top layer

in the pack, it weighs nothing. Last is making sure i have A big bag of chips waiting for me at the truck. I had other foods but the salty fried carbs was really what I wanted. Hopefully there will be some more winter id like to explore some more bc glades in this area.