Cougar Creek

Went for a walk in the very quiet Cougar Creek today. Great skiing to Cougar Creek from Balu Pass on bouncy 25cm ski penetration snow. We were having so much fun that we almost skied into the impressive hole of the Nakimu Caves. We headed up the valley from there. Wind affect from strong SW winds became apparent when we got to the large flat meadow between Cougar and Catamount. The moraines on the Cougar side showed widespread crossloading with windscouring on one side and huge windlips on the other. A SZ 3-3.5 debris covered with new snow could be observed at the bottom of Bagheera with a large crown way up its SE face. This was triggered (and reported) by the reverse loading 5 days ago. We were initially considering going up the Cougar North Couloir but the clouds cleared up just enough for us to be able to make out the huge cornices looming above it. A few cornice chunks from the previous few days could also be observed on the fans below the cliffs. We decided to give the couloir a pass and headed back down the valley for another fun lap in the trees. We exited the valley by skiing below the West Face of Cheops and following the old Tally Hoe Road. Massive older avalanche debris to SZ 3.5 (from avalanche control?) were again observed below the West Face of Cheops. Another older avalanche (SZ 3) that had released on the PWL was observed on the Cougar side just north of the Cougar Slabs. A full depth crown (SZ 3) was also observed on the slabs themselves, like always. We finally skied down from the Tally Hoe Road through the large pillowy blowdown to reach the TCH.