When the avalanches don’t care that we are experts.

Submitted by
jcoulter
Observations date
Friday, December 14, 2018 at 00:45
Location
49.478901° N 115.252385° W
Reporting on
  • Snow conditions
Map for Mountain Information Network report: When the avalanches don’t care that we are experts.

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:
Amazing
Snow conditions were:
  • Powder
We rode:
  • Mellow slopes
  • Open trees
We stayed away from:
  • Alpine slopes
  • Convex slopes
  • Steep slopes

Information

The day was:
  • Stormy
Avalanche conditions
  • Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
  • 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.
  • Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Comments

We knew that steep slopes would be primed for human triggering, and that we would have bad visibility as the storming (snow and wind) continued in the Lizard Range so we made a modest trip plan. As soon as we were on our skis we noticed shooting cracks on little convex features. We resolved to stay on terrain under 30 degrees. As we climbed to more open trees, the snow stiffened and we started to get some whumpfing (the sound of a weak layer collapsing). When the terrain steepened to over 30 degrees in front of us, we decided we had found our turn around point for today. Our snowpack tests showed good potential for avalanches 15-35cm deep. On our second lap we remote triggered 3 small (size 1) avalanches, simultaneously in the steep terrain above us that we had decided to avoid. We were on 25 degree terrain and over 50 meters away from it at the time. And then, we went home!