mapadu
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Before:
After:
Please excuse the poor light conditions. We were in and out of clouds as waves of a little storms came and went.
So, yeah, that?s a decent sized avalanche. And, yeah, I triggered it. Before freaking out or getting your panties in a bunch, though, do know that we were never in harm?s way as our chosen route kept us clear of trouble.
We ascended some 20 degree trees to a ridgeline, then skinned parallel to and 50 feet from a long cornice on the ridge. Somewhere near the beginning of that 18-degree ridge(inclinometers rule!), I felt a whumpf. Snow collapsed beneath my feet, but I didn?t dwell on it, given the lack of visible cracking and the low pitch I was on. Our goal was a 22 degree slope we?d descended before, so that whumpf can kiss my?. oh, sh!t?
The slide occurred on a due-east aspect, and it wasn?t until I?d rounded a corner to get to a southern face that I could get a look back at what I?d done. Upon that sight, I abandoned the original idea. Instead of making the intended run (which woulda been perfectly safe), I wanted to get back to that fracture line and have a closer look.
Whaddya think of that, Winter?
?Whatever. This is great!?
So we descended back down our ascent route toward the trigger point.
It struck me as odd at first when we arrived on the scene. The point at which the fracture line began measured a measly 15 degrees. Yet snow had been pulled downward from the crown at that very spot.
Whaddya think of that, Winter?
?Been there, done that. Thanks for steering me clear this time. When do we start running??
It made more sense as I looked around. I?d triggered a deep, hard-slab to release from fifty feet away. Had to make a fist and punch the crown to dent that slab. The fracture line had propagated from that 15 degree pitch, all along the cornice to a 35ish degree slope. There, the hard-slab had released. All as one piece, this hard slab pulled away from the crown, clear back to the spot that measured 15 degrees. It broke apart rather quickly, by the looks of the aftermath, and that mellow pitch barely moved 10 feet. The rest of it, all 200? or so across, ran approximately 100 feet down. The chunks of debris were huge.
From there, I looked across at what might make a more savory run ? some dense, N-facing trees.
We did end up atop those trees, after descending here and then a re-skin.
From atop Hunter Ridge, we looked across at the havoc we?d created at about 12:30pm on Red Mountain:
The green line marks our ascent route. At the red X, I felt the whumpf. I?m pretty sure that this triggered the spot below the blue dot to fracture. The fracture line contoured the cornice until it reached a spot steep enough to break loose, then pulled a lot down with it. The black dot is where I first looked back and saw the slide. We had descended via the same green line that brought us up, until we got back near the red X. From there we?d traversed to the blue dot and checked out the fracture.
It went about 18? deep near the trigger and fanned out to what appeared to be an eight-foot deep crown below the cornice. Large. The cornice used to provide a four-foot drop. Now, it?s about 12?.
There were about six inches of loose fluff atop the hard slab. Below the slab, 3-4 inches of depth-hoar lurked. The bed surface was smooth and impenetrable ? at about 12,000? even.
But, that?s way over there now. Across the valley. As I looked, I thought aloud, ?Waddya think of that, Winter??
"OH YEAH!"
No, I mean, the avalanche. Whaddya think, Winter?
?What the hell are you talking about?"
The slide. Can?t you see across there???
?I?m dignified.?
Whatever, dog. Let?s ski!
So, how was that, black dog?
"WEEEEEE!"
Before:
After:
Please excuse the poor light conditions. We were in and out of clouds as waves of a little storms came and went.
So, yeah, that?s a decent sized avalanche. And, yeah, I triggered it. Before freaking out or getting your panties in a bunch, though, do know that we were never in harm?s way as our chosen route kept us clear of trouble.
We ascended some 20 degree trees to a ridgeline, then skinned parallel to and 50 feet from a long cornice on the ridge. Somewhere near the beginning of that 18-degree ridge(inclinometers rule!), I felt a whumpf. Snow collapsed beneath my feet, but I didn?t dwell on it, given the lack of visible cracking and the low pitch I was on. Our goal was a 22 degree slope we?d descended before, so that whumpf can kiss my?. oh, sh!t?
The slide occurred on a due-east aspect, and it wasn?t until I?d rounded a corner to get to a southern face that I could get a look back at what I?d done. Upon that sight, I abandoned the original idea. Instead of making the intended run (which woulda been perfectly safe), I wanted to get back to that fracture line and have a closer look.
Whaddya think of that, Winter?
?Whatever. This is great!?
So we descended back down our ascent route toward the trigger point.
It struck me as odd at first when we arrived on the scene. The point at which the fracture line began measured a measly 15 degrees. Yet snow had been pulled downward from the crown at that very spot.
Whaddya think of that, Winter?
?Been there, done that. Thanks for steering me clear this time. When do we start running??
It made more sense as I looked around. I?d triggered a deep, hard-slab to release from fifty feet away. Had to make a fist and punch the crown to dent that slab. The fracture line had propagated from that 15 degree pitch, all along the cornice to a 35ish degree slope. There, the hard-slab had released. All as one piece, this hard slab pulled away from the crown, clear back to the spot that measured 15 degrees. It broke apart rather quickly, by the looks of the aftermath, and that mellow pitch barely moved 10 feet. The rest of it, all 200? or so across, ran approximately 100 feet down. The chunks of debris were huge.
From there, I looked across at what might make a more savory run ? some dense, N-facing trees.
We did end up atop those trees, after descending here and then a re-skin.
From atop Hunter Ridge, we looked across at the havoc we?d created at about 12:30pm on Red Mountain:
The green line marks our ascent route. At the red X, I felt the whumpf. I?m pretty sure that this triggered the spot below the blue dot to fracture. The fracture line contoured the cornice until it reached a spot steep enough to break loose, then pulled a lot down with it. The black dot is where I first looked back and saw the slide. We had descended via the same green line that brought us up, until we got back near the red X. From there we?d traversed to the blue dot and checked out the fracture.
It went about 18? deep near the trigger and fanned out to what appeared to be an eight-foot deep crown below the cornice. Large. The cornice used to provide a four-foot drop. Now, it?s about 12?.
There were about six inches of loose fluff atop the hard slab. Below the slab, 3-4 inches of depth-hoar lurked. The bed surface was smooth and impenetrable ? at about 12,000? even.
But, that?s way over there now. Across the valley. As I looked, I thought aloud, ?Waddya think of that, Winter??
"OH YEAH!"
No, I mean, the avalanche. Whaddya think, Winter?
?What the hell are you talking about?"
The slide. Can?t you see across there???
?I?m dignified.?
Whatever, dog. Let?s ski!
So, how was that, black dog?
"WEEEEEE!"
