Touchy Conditions on Mt Hall

Riding quality was:

OK

Snow conditions were:

• Powder
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Cut blocks
• Open trees

We stayed away from:

• Convex slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy

Avalanche conditions

• Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Wind effect from Saturday was fairly widespread in our riding area and gave the surface snow enough cohesion to react as a fairly stiff slab.

We skied a long west-facing tree line which ended in an open cut block at 1600m. Classic shooting cracks and drum-like sounds were widespread throughout the cut block.

I ski cut a size 1.5 storm slab in a cross-loaded gully (see pics) which failed on large, well-preserved surface hoar over firm bed surface. A smaller slab avalanche at the bottom of the run failed remotely, either by the first avalanche or by me on my exit from the run. With a bit of experience this avalanche problem seems manageable, but things will get tricky when more snow falls and this slab gets deeper!