Feb 10, 2019

Today we skied north, east & south aspects in the headwaters of Kutetl Creek near Whitewater ski resort between 2300m-1650m. Sky was clear, temperatures between -12C and -6C and winds Light to Moderate from the north. There was significant wind transported snow near ridge top. Recent new snow was being stripped from north aspects and deposited onto the southerly aspect near alpine ridge top creating an unusual reverse wind loading pattern. Isolated pockets of natural wind slabs avalanches to size 1 were observed in these areas. Other than that we saw no significant signs of instability and excellent skiing could still be found in lower alpine and treeline areas.

We dug a test profile at 1850m on a northeast aspect in an open glade where the height of snow was greater than 300cm. Results showed a variety of moderate to hard resistant shears in the upper 60cm. Of note was a moderate sudden shear down 170cm on surface hoar to 5mm on the Jan 16th layer. Our main concerns were shallow snowpack areas, convex terrain and the growing cornices. We managed these by minimizing our overhead hazard exposure and skiing supported terrain where the snowpack was deeper.

All in all an excellent day despite the avalanche conditions however, an acute awareness and understanding of the current avalanche conditions were needed to minimize the risk while traveling in more complex terrain.

Cheers,

David Lussier
mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com