Planned on getting up at 5:30 and being at the trail head at 7, but when you wake up and its -13 degrees outside it doesn't sound fun! I turned my phone off and fell back asleep, woke back up at 7 and still -2. I slowly got out of bed, had a bowl of cereal and coffee, got in the truck and drove to Breck. I picked Mt Helen for several reasons, one was that it is east facing but never steeper then 30 degrees. The avi problems are mainly on east facing slopes, so I have stayed away from them all year! With that in mind i wanted to find out what the snow was really like on east facing slopes but in a safe zone. I also pick Helen because it has some great views of other gnarly lines for this spring. I left at 9:15 and it was 7 degrees. I made quick work to treeline but then i bonked! I don't know why but the wind has always scared me and being by myself i was not really feeling it. I stopped hydrated, ate and pulled out my inclinometer to measured the slope. There is something to be said about this little guy! You spend hundreds of dollars on avi gear but for some reasons not a lot of people will pay 20$ for this little tool! Being above treeline i never hit a slope over 25 degrees, perfect for a solo mission. Also as you can see form the picture the top 300 yards of the peak is mostly rock hahah. It was a easy call for me to keep going and know that i was safe.I think i had to worry more about hitting rocks and not ruining my skis then an avalanche. Got to the top, got some great views, to cold and windy to sign the summit log but that's not why i came. I got back to treeline and that's where all the fun began. I skied an awesome gully that was 28 degrees with a nice 4-6 inches of fresh, made the trip worth it! If you ski Mt Helen the best skiing is in the trees! There was not enough snow for me to dig around in and find out what the snow is like on that aspect thought. This means i wasn't able to find out what the snow is really like on this aspect but i can tell you that if you don't have a inclinometer there pretty sweet and worth it!