Cornice and reactive snowpack

Riding quality was:

Amazing

Snow conditions were:

• Deep powder
• Powder

We rode:

• Alpine slopes
• Mellow slopes

We stayed away from:

• Convex slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Stormy
• Sunny

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Our group embarked on a ski tour to the NW-facing couloirs behind Mt. Mackenzie. Upon traversing to the north aspect of the peak, we observed several signs of instability, including cracking and very reactive snowpack. We had received verbal information from ski patrol about recent avalanche activity in the area, prompting us to adopt a conservative approach.

From the summit, we descended the north ridge, deliberately avoiding overhead hazard zones and potential trigger points. Despite this, we triggered several small slabs (Size 0.5) below our ski track. These events further emphasized the reactivity of the snowpack in steep terrain.

At approximately 2:15 PM, we reached the top of our intended line. Cornice cutting was performed to assess stability and manage overhead hazard, which effectively released significant sluff down the intended line. Following this, we performed ski cuts at the top and along potential hang fire zones to mitigate risk before committing to the descent. The consolidated channel created by the sluff served as our primary descent route.

Upon exiting the couloir to the cat track, we were informed by ski patrol that they were combing through the debris fan of a nearby out-of-bounds couloir. They were concerned about the volume of snow released from our line into the backcountry bowl below. We had a productive discussion with the ski patrollers which highlighted the complexity of managing risk in backcountry terrain adjacent to public areas. While no injuries occurred, it serves as a valuable reminder of the need for vigilance and communication to minimize near misses in shared terrain.🤙