Whistler creek - isolated instabilities

La qualité du hors-piste était:

OK

Les conditions de neige étaient :

• Croûtée
• Poudreuse
• Affectée par le vent

Nous avons parcouru:

• Pentes alpines
• Pentes de faible inclinaison
• Pentes raides

La journée était:

• Ensoleillée
• Chaude

Conditions d'avalanche

• Whoumfs ou bruits sourds ou fissures qui se propagent.

Conditions seemed generally good today for travel in a wide variety of terrain in whistler creek, but there are isolated instabilities. Best snow is sheltered, low angled lower alpine and treeline. Variable previous wind affect in many places. Steep aggressive lines had been skiied on various aspects the previous day (colder). We rode one large, steep E facing alpine slope today (the majority of which had previously avalanched, while avoiding large areas thay hadn't slid this season), but backed off another objective due to shooting cracks (5m) in a surface slab. On a steeper slope (eg further along the ridge toward ullars) this might have released as a slab Appeared to be isolated, small pockets of old windslab (now hard to discern) lee to previous north winds, sitting on facets, which appear to exist in immediate lee along the south side of ridge crests. Then in flat treeline we experienced two whoomphs while folllowing an old skin track, with shooting cracks connecting small trees. This demonstrated the midpack (thin in that area) has weakened during recent cold temps.

So, generally good but in places not perfect.

Surface snow was warming on even low angle SW slopes in the afternoon, though not quite moist where we travelling in the upper alpine. Cold NE breeze on the ridgetops but otherwise the sun was packing a punch, and much warmer air than previous days.