Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

Riding quality was:

OK

Snow conditions were:

• Powder
• Wet
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Open trees
• Steep slopes

We stayed away from:

• Convex slopes

The day was:

• Warm
• Wet

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
• Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

Went for a conditions check out to The Gorge after it appeared the last storm favoured the Monashees. Still pretty thin out there, average depth 80-100 cms. There is 20-30 cms of fresh storm snow sitting on top of the Nov 21 Surface Hoar layer, which sits above a mostly faceted snowpack. On south aspects there is a 1-2 cm thick crust (4F) down 20-30 cm. The snow pack was also settling quite a bit BTL by the afternoon and there was moist snow on the surface.

One quick CT produced Moderate resistant planar results down 30 cms on the Nov 21 SH later, 10-12 mm crystals. We also noticed a few size 1 storm slab avalanches that likely failed on this interface, all of them out steep, unsupported terrain in alpine features.

It’s still really thin out there and we hit quite a few rocks and obstacles! Be very careful if you choose to go out. Keep your tips up and keep it very reigned in, looks can be deceiving!