Wrong Way Winds

Carte pour le rapport du Réseau d'information en montagne: Wrong Way Winds

Conditions de neige

La qualité du hors-piste était:
OK
Les conditions de neige étaient :
  • Croûtée
  • Affectée par le vent
Nous avons parcouru:
  • Pentes alpines
  • Forêt dégagée
Nous sommes restés à l'écart de:
  • Pentes convexes
  • Pentes raides

Information

La journée était:
  • Nuageuse
  • Froide
Conditions d'avalanche
  • Whoumfs ou bruits sourds ou fissures qui se propagent.

Commentaires

Yesterday’s northerly winds left hard pack conditions in many of the areas we usually ride at Bijoux. With reasonable visibility and easy traveling, we took the opportunity to check out the conditions in the alpine above Pine Bowl. The winds had been reverse loading slopes which left wind slabs in places we would typically expect to be scoured. This new slab was 10-40cm thick and gave variable but reactive results in our pits. Reverse loading can be a tricky problem because the snow is deposited over a range of weak, shallow snowpacks affected by wind. We paid special attention to clues such as drum like sounds and cracking as we traveled. On the way back we stuck to smaller test slopes and left the ridge line for the softer snow in the meadows below the bowl.