Natural Avalanche Cycle in North Shore

Riding quality was:

OK

Toured Mt. Harvey today. We skinned up most of the logging road under fresh snowfall in the morning. There was heavy trailbreaking all the way to Harvey Pass, with about 5-10 cm of very heavy snow on top of low-density (fist) snow. Lots of shooting cracks on unsupported features and on switchbacks while putting in the skin track and we saw a half-dozen natural avalanches coming off the steep slopes below the Lions within a half-hour period.

The day warmed considerably: by our descent around 2 PM it was raining up to 1000 m and we boot-backed most of the way down the logging road. I would agree with AvCan's forecast of Con/Con/Mod for today with a comment that the danger would likely be ''high'' by the afternoon. The warming and rain+wet snow combo on top of low-density snow was a recipe for a natural avalanche cycle. It appeared there was about 40 cm on top of the Dec 15th crust by the end of the day around 1,300 m in elevation, and we stayed away from overhead hazards and any steep and unsupported slopes, and just stuck to low-angle turns in the trees below Mt. Harvey.

The logging road up towards Harvey Pass is in good conditions for skinning and we cleared a few more alders along our way.