Whumpfs and avalanches at Lakit

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.

Lots of signs of instability on our walk along the ridge towards Lakit Lookout. There was 20-30 cm heavy powder, you could hear loud wind in the alpine, we experienced lots of whumpfs, snowpack tests were showing an obvious weak layer 30 cm deep, we saw fresh avalanche debris from natural avalanches in the adjacent alpine bowl, and then while skinning along the ridge we remotely triggered two size 2 avalanches on some steeper terrain nearby. It was certainly a day for sticking to mellow terrain, which in our case meant skiing back down our skin track along the ridgetop.