Route Planning Question

[mattyTru]

Does anyone have a reliable method for predicting if a far flung, high alpine line on your topo map will be blown off when you get there? I have used faces with similar aspects that are nearby the line in question for predictions with mixed results. Just wondering if there is a good website showing recent wind history or something. Or if you have another method.

Thanks

[Anachronist]

Does anyone have a reliable method for predicting if a far flung, high alpine line on your topo map will be blown off when you get there? I have used faces with similar aspects that are nearby the line in question for predictions with mixed results. Just wondering if there is a good website showing recent wind history or something. Or if you have another method.

Thanks

How about looking at the Sentinel satellite weekly high-res imagery? Contingent on good timing and no cloud cover but looking at historical data could give you an idea whether it's usually scoured or not. I use premium caltopo to look because you can overlay contour lines and other maps there but you can also use sentinel hub playground I think to see the imagery for free.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KCCU.html

Lots of ways to get wind data. Knowing what it means for your objective is much harder. There is no web resource that will tell you how recent wind tends to load snow on a a given slope. Your best best is to find people who have tried to figure out the same thing and are willing to share. General trends don't tell you much about how a micro-level feature will ski. Especially in CO where the snow is dry and moves around a lot.

Even an hour of wind that blows hard in a different direction can change everything if the snow is dry. Because of this, if I were trying to ski something that often isn't skiable I'd be waiting for a storm (or series of storms), probably in the spring, with heavier snow that doesn't blow around as much. And If I were trying to ski something "far flung" I'd do my best to get a look at the line through binoculars if at all possible. Better yet, use a camera with a telephoto lens to take pics that you can blow up and examine on your computer. For example, you can get a decent look at the south side of Longs Peak, which is skiable but not very often, from the summit of St Vrain mountain, and an even better look if you head further west off the summit. I'd rather spend part of a day getting a good look at snow cover from afar than commit to a massive effort and find dirt and rock where I hoped to ski.