Ursus Minor - Ski cut strike team

Submitted by
AlexM
Observations date
Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 14:00
Location
51.309840° N 117.576560° W
Reporting on
  • Snow conditions
Map for Mountain Information Network report: Ursus Minor - Ski cut strike team

Information

Activity
Skiing

Group details

Total in the group?
1
People fully buried?
0
People partly buried with normal breathing?
0
People not injured (caught but not buried)?
1
People injured (caught but not buried)?
0
People involved?
1

Terrain details

Terrain shape at trigger point
Planar
Snow depth at trigger point
Shallow
Terrain traps
  • Cliff

Comments

We skied Ursus Minor Peak today, 5th skier down the lookers left bowl feature shown in the photo triggered the slope. The trigger point was on his 2nd turn at the location of the crown (marked with x on photo).

A hasty pit was dug at the lower bench below the slide. We found the facet surface hoar layer down 45cm (snow depth being 85cm at this location). Tests provided mixed results, however when conducting an ECT it failed upon isolation.

Learnings included:

1.) Sucker tracks suck, make your own decisions.

2.) Classic thin to thick area with wind loaded pockets being significantly deeper than adjacent zones. Watch for spatial variability in shallower snowpack

Before
Before
After
After
After
After
Hasty pit afterwards. ECTPV SP down 45cm on Fc 2mm... 85cm HS.
Hasty pit afterwards. ECTPV SP down 45cm on Fc 2mm... 85cm HS.
Black x: trigger point, straight lined to red x trying to get out of slide, tumble and loss of gears from red x to blue x. Walk of shame lookers right of the flank...
Black x: trigger point, straight lined to red x trying to get out of slide, tumble and loss of gears from red x to blue x. Walk of shame lookers right of the flank...