Hector creek wet slide

Map for Mountain Information Network report: Hector creek wet slide

Snow conditions

Riding quality was:
Good
Snow conditions were:
  • Wet
  • Wind affected
We rode:
  • Alpine slopes

Information

The day was:
  • Cloudy
  • Foggy
  • Sunny
  • Warm
  • Windy
Avalanche conditions
  • Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

Comments

One of several parties to ski Hector today. The day started with a dense fog in the valley but gave way to partly sunny skies with a cloud lingering on the summit block that cleared by 2:00. The snow had a decent refreeze on the ascent through the waterfall section and lots of traffic made travel quick. The glacier skied decent with some wind affect, but didn’t notice any slabbing. The wind had picked up up on exit by 3pm and significant warming in the lower section, we noticed small wet slides pouring off the walls north of the creek and hastened our pace. Once through the waterfall section we noticed a large D2 wet slide that had likely just occurred covering many ascent and descent tracks. 2nd hand report from a group down climbing the gully confirmed the wet slide had occurred around 3:30-3:45. Luckily all parties descending were ok.