Steep Creek avalanches

Riding quality was:

Amazing

Snow conditions were:

• Deep powder

We rode:

• Dense trees
• Mellow slopes

We stayed away from:

• Alpine slopes
• Convex slopes
• Steep slopes

The day was:

• Cloudy
• Cold
• Stormy

Avalanche conditions

• Slab avalanches today or yesterday.
• 30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.
• Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Spent March 2nd and 3rd in the area. Amazing snow but lots of signs of instabilities. Temps stayed cold at around -10C, little sun:

- Saturday lots of whumpfing on the approach to the hut and above it primarily in the trees. A size 2-3 slide was visible North of Chute 56 bump. Saturday afternoon we skied supported under 30 deg slopes, and noticed a size 1.5-2 with a 1 m crown which was probably remotely triggered by another party. A number of pits nearby all showed a 90 cm storm snow releasing easily on a thick layer of facets. HS of 200 cm in the area. Other size 2-3 avalanches in the alpine, all aspects were visible.

- Sunday the whumpfing continued, with some small precipitation overnight. Skied similar slopes as on Saturday. Witnessed another natural size 2 on extreme alpine terrain just above the lake that reached it in the morning. More naturals observed on steep terrain as the day progressed. We dug a few more pits at 2000 m West aspects all showing similar profiles, with main problem being a thick layer of facets at 70-90 cm.