Slab Avalanches - Gold Range/ Mt Hall

Riding quality was:

Amazing

Snow conditions were:

• Powder

We rode:

• Mellow slopes

We stayed away from:

• Convex slopes
• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Cold
• Sunny

Recent storm snow seems to settling rapidly in this area, with some redistribution of surface snow from moderate to strong ridgetop winds.

There is definitely still concern for deeper more destructive layers. Looking west from the summit of Mt Hall we could see evidence of 3 size 3 natural slab avalanches in alpine terrain. 2 looked like they occurred during last week's storm, but one looked more recent. We also noted evidence of a size 3 natural slab avalanche on an east facing upper treeline slope on Mt Hall (see pic). Given the light amounts of new snow on the debris, I guess this one failed just before the weekend. Crown was up to 2 metres in height - suspecting mid-January surface hoar.

It'll be a while before I trust any steeper, unsupported slopes.