AST 2 at Blackcomb

Riding quality was:

OK

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty
• Heavy
• Wet
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Mellow slopes

We stayed away from:

• Alpine slopes
• Convex slopes
• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Stormy
• Warm
• Wet
• Windy

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
• 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

This day was our practice day to get some in-depth experience as a group so, considering group dynamics and the avalanche report, we were very conservative.

What started as rain on the mountain, turned to snow right around lunchtime and persisted non-stop throughout the day as the freezing level descended. Air temperature was around 3 degrees while on the mountain in the morning. Strong winds gusting around 30km+ with varying directions depending on where you were on the mountain, though the prevailing direction was wind coming from the SW. Noticeable wind lips on DOA and cornices on Disease Ridge.

There was a natural size 2 that had slid to the right of DOA but not on the run directly. Our group also noticed two small size 0.5's that may have been natural or skier triggered at the top of the Glacier Express chair on steep, cliffed terrain within the resort. We heard non-stop avalanche control (lots of avi bombs) which makes sense considering the conditions.